One Final Chance
by StarryNightxox
Summary: When the Doctor and Rose are both hurtled back together in a reunion neither expected, they are given another chance at their forever. They find themselves travelling together once again facing foes both old and new, with a few surprises along the way. Set during Season 4. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, so this is my first ever Doctor Who fanfic, it's just an idea that popped into my head and so I decided to write it down.  
Disclaimer: I (sadly) do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters.**

Rose forced herself to stand upright. Breathing raggedly, she felt the beginnings of tears prick at her eyes as she stepped over her fallen comrade. She cursed under her breath; this invasion couldn't have come at a worse time, half of the field teams were in Tokyo investigating an abundance of alien tech that had begun appearing a few weeks ago. The only reason she wasn't there was because of a breakthrough they'd had with the dimension canon.

Rose felt the bullet pierce her chest before she heard the shot go off, she fired her gun at the stray Katraa, effectively stunning it, and kept moving, there weren't many of the aliens in this part of the building which was good because she couldn't afford to lose any more time.

She was on her way to lab 3; where they stored and monitored teleporting and communications equipment. The Katraa soldiers had teleported directly into the building, and if they were lucky they might be able to find the residual energy left behind by the teleport and reverse it, hopefully whilst finding a way to stop them from coming back. It wasn't a very well thought through plan, but it was all they had.

She'd explained all this to Mickey when he called and he insisted on meeting her there, she just hoped he made it. When she finally staggered into the room, Mickey was inside and was already hard at work, tapping at the keyboard in front of a computer screen.

He glanced up at her when she entered, ready to fight another Katraa soldier, "Rose!" he surged toward her when he saw that she was injured. He himself had a cut above his eyebrow and a few bruised ribs, but otherwise he was fine.

Rose waved him off, "How far have you gotten?" she asked him breathlessly, leaning on the desk across from him for support

"I've traced the signal," he replied, making his way back over to the computer, "but it'll take a while to reverse the teleport and get the barriers up to stop them coming back."

"Right," she pressed her hand against the bullet wound; she was losing too much blood, but she might be able to buy them some time.

"Stop it!" Mickey said sternly as she glanced at the door

"What?"

"I know that look," he pointed a finger at her accusingly, "that's your 'I'm about to sacrifice myself' look."

She raised an eyebrow, about to argue back but he interrupted her; "I won't let you."

It was at that moment that she noticed the extra weight in her pocket, she set her gun down and pulled out the dimension canon prototype they'd been working on; he must have slipped it in her pocket.

"Mickey, what are you doing?" she asked slowly, as he moved toward the coordinate control panel

"Sending you home." He replied, hand going to the button that would send her back through the void, back to the Doctor.

"Good luck, babe." He smiled sadly at her before slamming his finger down on the 'enter' key, launching her through the void.

"No!" Rose cried, holding her hand out to stop him, but it was too late, she could feel herself being pulled away, her voice sounded distorted and she braced herself for the pain she would likely ace on the other side.

A rush of cold air surrounded her as she came through the other side of the void, her muscles were on fire and she staggered and fell to her knees when her feet finally met solid ground again. She glanced around what looked like Cardiff, vision swimming slightly, before she felt two strong arms steady her, accompanied by a voice she'd never thought she'd hear again.

**So this is just a short chapter to get started, I'd love to know what you thought about it so feel free to drop me a review ;)  
Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi, so here it is; Chapter 2...I'm hoping to update this story every day, failing that every two days etc. Thanks to everyone who Followed, Favourited and reviewd so far, I really appreciate it!  
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or any of its characters. **

**Happy reading :))**

Jack and Gwen hastily made their way outside of the hub; they had gotten a large spike of energy from the rift and were expecting something to have come through just a few moments ago. Tosh, Ianto and Owen had gone home so it was up to them to track whatever it was down, and it should have landed somewhere around here. It was a cold evening in Cardiff Bay, and so luckily there weren't many people around to see.

Jack was about to go inside and double check the readings on the computer when there was a flash in the corner of his eye. He turned around to see a woman appear out of nowhere, she was blonde and wearing all black clothes. She started to stumble forward, arm wrapped tightly around her middle, before falling to her knees on the pavement and staring confusedly at her surroundings.

Jack and Gwen took their cue and moved towards her, purposeful yet hesitant whilst they tried to figure out whether she was a threat or not.

As they drew closer, Jack stopped suddenly, "Rose," he whispered, mostly to himself, but then he broke into a run, leaving Gwen to catch up. Emotions bombarded him; he was so happy to see her, confused as to how she managed to get here, but most of all he was worried. Worry nagged inside his head as he got closer; she was hurt, that much was clear.

She began to sway on her knees and Jack caught her and held her upright against his chest, "Rose?" he asked, "Rosie? Can you hear me?"

"You know her?" Gwen asked, shocked, when she caught up to him

Jack ignored her and focused on the woman in his arms, he laid her down so her head rested on his lap, "Rose." He said, more forcefully this time.

The woman in question forced her eyes open, "Jack?" she managed a weak grin as she looked up into his eyes.

Jack couldn't help but smile back, "Hello." He tried to sound cheerful but the happiness bubbling up inside him at seeing her again died down when he noticed the blood staining her hands and shirt.

He glanced up at Gwen worriedly before looking back down at his closest friend, "Let's get you inside." He smiled what he hoped was reassuringly and scooped her up, carrying her back to the hub.

Owen looked up as Jack and Gwen hurried into the hub, complete with injured blonde woman. Jack gently lay Rose down on the sofa and kneeling beside her and brushing a few loose strands of hair out of her face.

"-I think she's been shot!" Jack heard Gwen explaining what had happened to Owen.

"Let me see." The medic knelt next to Jack and began tugging Rose's leather jacket off her to get a better look and her injuries. She protested weakly, trying to get something out of her pocket, Jack stopped her with a hand on her arm and pulled out of her jacket; a yellow disc, about the size of his hand, it was covered in clear, ridged plastic and had a small screen on one side, with a long string of numbers running across it that he couldn't understand.

"What's this?" he asked her

"'S how I," she broke off, gasping in pain when Owen put pressure on her wound. "How I got here." she finished.

"Why do you need it?" he tried to keep a conversation going to distract her from

"I have to..." she began, "need to go back."

Jack said nothing at first, he thought she'd be happy to be back; they could track down the Doctor and all be reunited again, just like old times.

"You _need_ to get better." He told her finally, putting down the plastic disc and gripping her hand tightly

She smiled through the beginnings of tears, "I've missed you."

Jack's own smile disappeared when he saw Owen's face; the medic was watching at him with an apologetic frown, "I'm sorry. She's lost too much blood; I can't do anything to help her here."

"We have to try." He said desperately

Owen shook his head sadly, "She needs to get to a hospital." His tone indicated that there wasn't enough time for that anyway now.

"No," Jack told them, "she needs the Doctor!"

Rose began to protest, "Jack..."

"Please, Rose." He was begging her not to give up

The woman in question sighed and let her head fall back against the sofa, closing her eyes and scrunching her eyebrows slightly in what looked like concentration.

"Rose?" he asked her worriedly, panicking when he got no response.

All of a sudden her eyes snapped open and the team let out a collective gasp at the golden colour her eyes had turned.

A mechanical whoosh sounded behind them and heads whipped around to see a large blue police box appear seemingly out of nowhere, the doors of which creaked open almost uncertainly to reveal three people.

A man in brown pinstripes cleared his throat, looking over to the sofa to address the man crouched in front of it, "Hello Jack."

**As you can probably tell, I don't watch Torchwood so sorry for any inaccuracies because of this. Hope you're liking it so far, and I can't wait to hear any comments you might have :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to everyone who has followed, favourited and reviewed so far!  
Disclaimer: I (obviously) don't own Doctor Who or any of its characters. Some of the lines in this chapter have been borrowed from 'The Poison Sky'. **

Martha walked towards the TARDIS doors, about to leave, when they snapped shut without warning. Suddenly, the TARDIS began to shake uncontrollably and the time rotor started up, launching them to an unknown destination.

"What? What!" he yelled helplessly as Martha and Donna screamed

"Doctor, don't you dare!" Martha cried

"No, no, no!" he pulled the monitor towards him, "I didn't touch anything! We're in flight! It's not me!"

"Where are we going?" Donna's shout sounded from the other side of the console

The Doctor met her gaze through the shaking, "I don't know, it's out of control!" He admitted, wide-eyed

"Doctor, just listen to me!" Martha shouted at him, "You take me home! Take me home right now!"

The Doctor tried relentlessly to get the TARDIS under control, but nothing was working properly. The TARDIS continued to shake for a good couple of minutes before it finally landed with a thud.

"Doctor where are we?" Martha asked

The Doctor was looking at the small screen with a slight grimace on his face, "Cardiff." He announced to the pair of women on board, "We're in Cardiff."

Donna frowned and followed the Doctor on his path towards the doors, Martha close behind

"Why've we landed here?" Donna asked him

"Dunno," the Doctor said curiously, though he knew it had something to do with Jack; he could feel the presence of the other man outside the door. Sighing once, he opened both doors and stepped out into the room.

Two people stood in the room, staring at him with wide eyes, the Doctor's eyes, however, zeroed in on the man knelt by the sofa, his face was turned away but the Doctor recognised him instantly.

"Hello Jack."

The man in question inclined his head slightly but stayed turned away,

"Doctor,"

Martha frowned, Jack sounded different than when she last saw him; sad, and why wouldn't he turn around?

Finally, after a few more seconds of stony silence, the captain lowered his head and slowly moved aside, to reveal a blonde woman, lain across the length of the couch. The doctor in Martha wanted to see how she could help but was stopped in her tracks by the look of wonderment and hope across the Doctor's face.

He stared at her for a few seconds, allowing the cloud of hope to wash over him, and then he was moving. He took fast, unsteady steps towards her, leaping over the coffee table that separated them and kneeling at her side brushing the hair gently out of her face.

"Rose? Rose?" he cupped a hand against her cheek, laughing breathily when she looked up at him

"My Doctor," she grinned at him, letting a single tear drop as her eyes closed again.

"What happened?" the Doctor demanded, looking at Jack accusingly

"I wish I knew!" Jack went on to explain to the group everything that had happened since he found Rose outside.

"She'll be alright though won't she Doctor?" Donna piped up

"She will be." The Doctor muttered darkly before lifting Rose into his arms easily and taking her aboard the TARDIS. "Martha!" he called back to the shocked woman still stood in the Torchwood hub.

She rushed after him, expecting to feel the stab of jealousy she had become used to whenever the Doctor mentioned Rose, but she didn't. If anything, she felt relieved, the Doctor had finally found Rose, maybe he would stop moping around now that she was back, provided she stayed alive long enough anyway.

"So that's Rose?" Donna wondered aloud

"Yeah," Jack said stiffly, getting up from his kneeling position on the floor, "that's Rose."

He turned to address his team, looking quizzically at Owen, just realising that he shouldn't be there,

"What are you still doing here anyway?" he asked,

"Forgot my keys," Owen replied, going over to his desk to pick them up, "Good thing I did."

Jack snorted, finally turning to face the newcomer, "And who are you?"

"Donna Noble." She said slowly

"Captain Jack Harkness," he held out a hand, "Nice to meet you Donna Noble." He said it with a flirtatious smile, but couldn't seem to put his usual charisma into it.

"Who is she?" Gwen's accent travelled across the room to him

"A friend," Jack replied simply

"Is that all we get?" Owen snorted at Jack's response,

"What do you want me to say?" Jack snapped; he was getting sick of this, everyone always wanted to know things in detail, wanted him to dredge up pieces of his past and relive painful memories just to satisfy their curiosity.

"Hang on though," Donna interrupted before their argument got too heated, "The Doctor said that Rose couldn't come back, how is she here? Where is 'here' anyway?"

"This," Jack gestured around the cavernous room, "is Torchwood 3, Cardiff."

"Cardiff," Donna snorted, "That's a little anti-climatic isn't it?"

Owen sniggered, "Yeah." He agreed

"I don't know how Rose got back," Jack admitted, "She must have fallen through the rift, that's why we got such a large energy spike."

"She said she used this," Gwen held up the disc that was in Rose's pocket, "Any idea what it is?"

Jack took the disc from her and shook his head, still inspecting it,

"Never seen anything like it before, then again, I'm not experienced in pan-dimensional travel."

They sat and talked for the next few hours, Owen left a while earlier and so it was just Jack, Donna and Gwen, who had offered to stay and wait with them.

They all jumped when they heard the main entrance roll open, revealing Ianto, "Have you been here all..." he trailed off when he saw the red-haired stranger and the huge blue police box in the corner of the room.

"What's going on?" he asked

**So I know that was a bit of a short reunion for the Doctor and Rose, but I'll be uploading Chapter 4 tomorrow, so you don't have to wait long :) Thanks for reading, can't wait to hear what you thought. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or any of its characters.**

Martha emerged from the TARDIS before anyone got a chance to answer and all four heads snapped around to focus on her.

"She's alright," Martha stated, much to everyone's relief, "The Doctor's with her, she's going to be fine."

Jack let out his breath in a long exhale, before downing the rest of his coffee and getting up, cracking his neck loudly he headed toward the TARDIS, but was stopped by a hand on his arm,

"The Doctor hasn't seen her in over two years." Martha said matter-of-factly

Jack's gaze hardened, _yeah? Well she's my friend too. _He shrugged off her hand and looked sternly at Martha until she let him past. The lights lining the wall inside the console room dimmed almost angrily, Jack knew from experience that this ship didn't like him; he was a fact, a freak of nature. He just hoped that She would show him to the infirmary as soon as possible.

The Doctor stared at her like she was impossible. He held her hand like if he let go she would disappear. He looked at the heart monitor like he was begging it to give him good news.

That's how Jack found him. Rose was on the bed in the infirmary, sedated and the Doctor was sat on a hard metal chair beside her. Jack cleared his throat, and when he got no response from either of the room's occupants, he approached the bed.

"How is she?" he asked hesitantly. He, again, got no response, so he tried a different approach

"Martha says she's going to be fine." He got a non committal grunt of acknowledgement that time.

"Doctor?"

"What?" the time lord in question snapped

"Don't worry, she's fine."

"I'm not worrying. I don't worry." He said defiantly

"Well then what is it?"

"She shouldn't be here." He admitted. Jack rolled his eyes at the time lord,

"You mean because you thought it was impossible? This just proves that even the Doctor gets things wrong sometimes." He joked half-heartedly

"This isn't funny, Jack." The Doctor spat his name like it was poison, "Who knows what damage has she's caused to herself by doing this, let alone to the other universes."

Jack groaned, apparently loud enough to wake Rose, because she mumbled something as she began to wake up.

"What?" the Doctor asked her gently

"The rift," she repeated, this time clearer

"What about the rift?" Jack piped up from the other side of the bed

She opened her eyes blearily, "It runs through both universes, probably more than just those ones, but I haven't had a chance to check." Her voice was hoarse and Jack went to get her some water.

"That's impossible." The Doctor stated after a moment

"Has anyone ever told you that you use that phrase far too often?" Rose asked cheekily, head turning to look at him, "Hello, by the way,"

She smiled the brightest smile he'd ever seen her wear and he couldn't stop himself from closing the distance between them and kissing her sweetly.

"Hello." He grinned happily, instantly forgetting his previous concerns about the other universes and instead focusing on Rose. Her smile. Her eyes. Her hand in his. The Doctor almost forgot that Jack was still in the room with them.

"Hey," he said, mock offended, "don't I get a kiss?"

The Doctor glared at him, but Rose just grinned and pulled him in for a hug instead, much to the Doctor's very obvious relief.

"What I don't understand is how you managed to pull the TARDIS to Cardiff." The Doctor raised an eyebrow expectantly.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked

Jack stared at her incredulously, "Your eyes, Rose. Your eyes started glowing gold and then the TARDIS materialised out of nowhere."

"Oh," she said after a moment's pause

"Oh?" the Doctor's eyebrows got even higher, "What happened, Rose? How did you get back? And who the hell shot you?" his voice got louder and more frustrated with every question.

"Well I should get going." Jack said awkwardly and placed the water on the table beside her, he knew they would need some space to talk things through.

"What?" Rose wore a worried frown as she said this and sat upright, groaning in pain

"Woah," Jack said, pushing her back onto the bed, "Relax there Rosie, I'll just be outside. Besides, I think you two have some catching up to do." He winked at her slyly before shoving his hands in his pockets and strolling out of the infirmary.

The Doctor sighed heavily, looking down at the woman on the bed, "What happened over there Rose?" he asked her finally.

Rose explained as best she could, about the invasion, how she and Mickey found a way to stop them, but not before the foot soldiers were sent through, not before people started dying.

"Then what?" he pressed

"Mickey must've slipped the canon into my pocket when I wasn't looking." She explained, "It's controlled remotely, so he had to set the coordinates manually, then the next thing I know I'm in Cardiff."

"Did he do it?" the Doctor asked, "Mickey, did he stop the invasion?"

"I don't know." Rose shrugged, "I mean I can't exactly get back. Can I?"

The Doctor felt dread claw at him, she sounded hopeful, did she want to go back? Didn't she want to stay with him?

"Do you want to go back?" he asked hesitantly, his voice was so quiet she thought she was imagining it until he looked at her, waiting for a response.

"No." She shook her head, "I just- I want to know if they're alright."

"I'm sorry." He apologised sincerely.

Rose nodded and took that as her answer, closing her eyes to stop the tears that were threatening to fall.

"You could come with me?" he offered shyly, "I mean if you want to. It's not just me any more though, it's Donna too, but I'm sure she won't mind you coming with us."

"Oh." Rose raised her eyebrows, "So you and her..." she trailed off, gesturing with her hands

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. Lord no!" he would've laughed if it weren't for the look on her face, "Why do people keep saying that?"

"Okay," she agreed

"Hmmm?"

She laughed, "Okay, I'll come."

"Really?" he kissed her again, "Brilliant! Molto Bene!"

His Rose had come home, and he was never letting go of her again.

**Hope you enjoyed it, please review :) **


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's chapter 5, a big thanks to everyone who has followed, favourited and reviewed so far, it means a lot! :)  
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or any of its characters.**

"-and there was this huge rock monster thing!"

Rose nodded absently, only half listening to Donna's words. It had been three days since she'd woken up on the TARDIS and the Doctor had finally allowed her to get up and move around, only for her to discover that she was too tired to do much at all.

The Doctor introduced her to Donna two days ago and the pair had taken an instant liking to one another. They'd just gotten back from dropping Martha off and now, Donna was regaling Rose with tales of their adventures together whilst they both sat nursing cups of tea in the TARDIS kitchen.

"Rose?" Are you listening?" Donna was waving a hand in front of Rose's face with an amused look on her face.

"Hmmm? Yeah, sorry." She replied sheepishly

"Oh, you're as bad as _him_!" she jerked a thumb in the direction of the console room, where the Doctor and Jack were making unnecessary repairs to the ship.

Rose grinned at this, "Hey! I'm not that bad!" she paused, "I was just...thinking."

"About what?" Donna pressed gently

"Nothing, just my family."

Donna's tone turned sympathetic at the look on Rose's face, "You'll never know what happened to them."

"Yeah." She said dejectedly, before brightening considerably and adopting the Doctor's technique of smiling to distract people from asking questions, "I'll tell you what though?"

"What?"

"I've got almost two years of Eastenders to catch up on and lots of free time," she raised her eyebrows in invitation at Donna, who grinned,

"Oh you have no idea how much you've missed!" she exclaimed happily, pulling the blonde through to the media room enclosed in the library.

"So," Jack said from his position under the console, he was waist deep in wires whilst the Doctor stood, staring at the monitor intently, waiting for the changes Jack was making to show up on the screen.

"So?" he asked after a long pause

"You sticking around for long?"

"Time machine, remember?" he reminded the captain, "Doesn't matter how long we stay for."

"Yeah, well not all of us have a time machine," he said, a hint of annoyance evident in his tone, "Besides; I want to know how long I'll have with Rose before you decide to leave."

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "Yeah, I suppose we could stay for a couple more days." He said finally

Jack laughed loudly and clapped the Doctor on the back, "You've gone soft, old man!" He laughed again and went to find Rose.

"C'mon Rosie!" Jack yelled though from the corridor, he'd been waiting half an hour for her already

"Hang on!" she shouted back through the closed door, it felt strange wearing her old clothes, but Jack was taking her for a day out and he'd promised they could go get her some new outfits.

She opened the door, grinning that tongue in teeth smile she was famous for, and linked her arm through his, dragging him out of the TARDIS and into Cardiff.

"Where should we go first?" Jack asked her, excitement in his voice, it had been so long since he'd had her all to himself, and he was going to make the most of it.

"You know this place better than I do." She shrugged

They decided on the small cafe they'd visited with Mickey and the Doctor when he was in his last incarnation. They chatted for two hours before shopping for clothes and walking back to the TARDIS through the plaza.

"This was nice." Rose said

"We should definitely do it again." He smiled tightly

Rose frowned, "What's wrong?" she asked, stopping him from entering the TARDIS.

"Nothing," he lied.

She gave him a sceptical look, "Out with it Harkness."

"Can you promise me something?"

"What?"

"Don't forget me," he carried on quickly when Rose made to interrupt, "I just know how easy it is to forget what you leave behind when you travel with him."

Rose smiled at him, "Jack, you know I could never forget you, besides, we'll visit all the time!"

"Yeah, you say that, but..." he trailed off at the end, but she knew what he was thinking; _the Doctor won't want to come back._

"Jack, I'll make the Doctor bring me back, and even if he doesn't want to, I'm sure I could convince Donna to help me gang up on him. No problem."

He grinned, "Really?"

"Yeah, we'll visit so often you'll be sick of us!"

"Never!" he laughed, opening the door of the police box and holding it open for her.

She stepped through the door and onto the familiar grating of the TARDIS floor, coming face-to-face with a frowning Doctor.

"How old are you?" he asked her carefully.

"Hello to you too," she said dryly, moving past him to stand by the console.

"I'm serious, Rose." He told her, cutting off any more attempts of humour from her.

Rose looked at Jack sternly, until he backed out, making some half-hearted excuse about having to monitor the rift.

"You clearly already have an answer in mind." She deadpanned, sitting down on the jump seat tiredly, she'd been doing a lot of walking around today and she was beginning to feel it.

"34." He said quietly, "You've been away for twelve years."

"Yeah,"

"Twelve years is a long time," he was fiddling with something on the console

Rose raised an eyebrow, "It's not that long." She pointed out.

"But you still look..." he trailed off, looking at her face for any signs of aging.

"Yeah," she said again, avoiding eye contact

He groaned, running his fingers through his hair until it stuck up at odd angles, "Were you planning on telling me?"

"I was waiting for the right moment," she snapped

He scoffed, gesturing wildly, "What if it's dangerous? I-I need to run some tests!" he began to walk back to the infirmary, snagging her hand and pulling her from the jump seat. She winced at the painful tightness in her chest and he had the decency to look back at her apologetically, slowing his pace so he was no longer dragging her.

"What do you mean dangerous?" she asked suddenly, "I mean it can't be that bad if I'm still alive, can it?"

"That's what we're going to find out." He said firmly.

**Thanks to everyone for reading, I hope you're all liking it so far, don't forget to let me know in a review ;)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A big thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favourited and followed so far, it means a lot!  
Disclaimer: I still don't own Doctor Who or any of its characters...**

The Doctor sighed as he finished the tests he'd been running on Rose, her DNA had been altered, that much he could tell even before he'd started the tests. Apart from that, there was nothing whatsoever in her results that indicated that this would be dangerous to her, which, of course was a good thing, unless he'd missed something vital. _Maybe I should start again, _A voice in his head concluded. He began to reset the equipment, ready to run the tests again, when Donna came in.

"Where've you been?" she asked him, "You've been gone for hours!"

"Busy," the Doctor told his companion absently.

"Yes, I can see that." She said dryly, "Busy doing what exactly?"

"Stuff," he replied distractedly, hitting a machine with his hand to get it to work.

"Doctor," Rose cut in, "You've already used that one, remember?" She pointed at the box-like machine that his was currently working on.

"I might've missed something important."

"Enough, Doctor!" she snapped. Apparently the tone she used had caught his attention because he turned around and looked at her nervously.

"Rose," he started, but she cut him off,

"No, Doctor. I'm sick of being stuck in here!" her voice was raised slightly, "You've run all the tests in this room, you've got the results, now stop."

"But," he stopped himself from saying anything else when he saw the glare she had on her face, "Alright." He conceded finally.

"Alright." She agreed, uncrossing her arms to accept Donna's high five.

"Oh, she told you, Spaceman!" Donna was grinning at the pouting look on his face.

"So what's the verdict?" Rose asked finally

"Weeeeeell..." he drew out the word in a squeaky voice, "It looks like there have been some minor changes to your DNA, which explains the fact that you haven't been aging."

"But that doesn't explain how Rose brought the TARDIS here." Donna pointed out, frowning slightly.

"Well, that's a little more complicated," he admitted, "When you absorbed the time vortex on Satellite 5, I managed to take it all out of you. All except one little, and I mean tiny, little piece, which is what changed your DNA. This bit's the tricky part; when you became the Bad Wolf, you bonded with the TARDIS, and as I explained when we got trapped in Pete's World, She gets her energy and power from _this_ universe, meaning _this_ time vortex,"

Rose cut him off, "_This_ time vortex?"

"Yeah, it's not exactly a separate vortex, it's only parallel and it uses a different kind of energy than this universe, which is why it was so difficult for us to get back."

"Right," Rose nodded, still catching up with what that meant when he started talking again.

"So when you got trapped in Pete's world, the part of the vortex inside you became dormant, sleeping sort of, and when you came through the rift it must've woken up and activated. I think since you were so distressed, you called the TARDIS subconsciously through your bond."

"So my DNA must already have been changed before Bad Wolf Bay then?" Rose asked to clarify.

"I suppose so." He shook his head, "Though how we didn't notice it is beyond me."

She sidled up to him when he sank onto the bed, "It's not your fault you know." She linked their hands together reassuringly.

"So how long is she going to live exactly?" Donna asked the pair

The Doctor shook his head; clueless, "I'm sorry" he directed at Rose

"Don't worry about it," she reassured him, "Besides, we're stuck with each other now! And you're never getting rid of me!"

He looked at her in mock horror, "Rose Tyler! I wouldn't dream of it!"

"So what happens now?" Donna asked them

He shrugged, scrubbing a hand down his face exasperatedly,

"I dunno," he really hated not knowing, especially when it came to Rose, "But there hasn't been any indication that this could be dangerous yet."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens then." Rose said, hopping off the bed and extending her hand to the time lord, "In the meantime though, we never did finish reading Harry Potter did we?" she grinned at him cheekily and led him to the library.

Donna smiled to herself knowingly, noting how much happier the Doctor acted when Rose was around, she really was his perfect match.

Jack looked at the woman who was like a sister to him; she was stood in front of him with a sad smile on her face.

"You're leaving." He said dejectedly

"Yeah," she said, tears pricking at her eyes, "You're sure you won't come with us? Just for one trip."

"I'm sorry, I can't. I have work to do here," he glanced around to emphasise his point

"'S okay, I understand" she smiled at him tearfully and pulled him in for a long hug.

"I'll miss you Rosie," he told her

"Come on Jack, 's like I said; we'll visit all the time."

Jack just smiled, giving her another hug before pushing her onto the TARDIS and stepping back slightly to watch it dematerialise, giving a stiff salute to the people inside as they disappeared.

Rose made her way to the central console, where Donna and the Doctor were already waiting,

"So, where we going?" She asked excitedly

"Oh, we thought we'd let you decide," he said nonchalantly, "Since it's your first trip back in the TARDIS. So, Rose Tyler, what do you say? Space or time? Past or present? Relaxing or running?"

**This chapter was just a bit of a conclusion to the TARDIS crew's time in Cardiff, so now they can get back to travelling again :)  
Please drop a review on your way out to let me know what you thought (good or bad) Thanks for reading! ;)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Here we are, Chapter 7, thank you so much to everyone who has followed, favouried and reviewed, I'm glad you like it so far :)  
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or any of its characters. Some lines in this chapter have been borrowed from the episode The Unicorn and the Wasp. **

The groaning of the TARDIS filled the air, disturbing the peace and quiet that hung around the old stone mansion, not that anyone noticed. The ship appeared on the grass nearby and a young blonde woman stepped out, closely followed of course by a tall, dark haired man and a smiling red headed woman.

"Ha! I'll never get tired of this!" Rose stated and looked around at their surroundings with a bright grin on her face.

"Oh, I know. Smell that air." The Doctor sniffed, "Grass and lemonade...and a little bit of mint. A hint of mint must be the 1920s."

"You can tell what year it is just by smelling?" Donna asked incredulously

"Oh yeah!" the Doctor stated boastingly

Rose nudged Donna with her elbow, "Or maybe that big vintage car coming up the drive gave it away." She suggested cheekily, nodding at the car coming up the drive.

The trio of travellers hid behind a bush to hear a conversation between the partygoers.

"Ah, Reverend." An elderly man greeted the newcomer

"Professor Peach! Beautiful day." The reverend stepped off his bike, "The lord's in his heaven, all's right with the world." He said with a smile.

"Revered Golightly. Lady Eddison requests you make yourselves comfortable in your rooms. Cocktails will be served on the lawn from half past four." The butler; Greeves informed them.

"You go on up, I have to check something in the library." The professor said

**"**Oh?" the reverend looked curious.

**"**Alone." Peach insisted

**"**This is supposed to be a party! All this work will be the death of you." The reverend smiled cheerfully before walking inside.

"Never mind Planet Zog, a party in the 1920s, that's more like it!" Donna exclaimed happily, still hidden behind the bush.

Rose smiled, "Yeah, and I'm tired of being cooped up."

"Problem is, we haven't been invited." The Doctor frowned before pulling out his psychic paper and grinning at them, "Oh I forgot, yes we have!"

The Doctor was practically hopping from one foot to another whilst he waited for the girls to get ready; he was excited to be taking Rose on her first trip since she'd returned and he wanted it to be perfect.

"We'll be late for cocktails." He tapped on the door to the TARDIS impatiently.

Donna stepped out of the police box wearing an elegant brown dress that she'd found in the wardrobe.

"What d'you think?" she asked, "Flapper or slapper?"

The Doctor ignored her, instead staring at Rose. His mouth hung open slightly as he looked at her, her dress was similar to Donna's only hers was pale blue in colour and she had a thin shawl of the same colour draped across her shoulders.

"You look gorgeous!" he exclaimed before he could stop himself and a slight blush rose in his cheeks when he realised what he'd said. Rose laughed softly and kissed him on the cheek.

"Eh-hem?" Donna cleared her throat impatiently.

"Oh, sorry. Flapper. You look lovely!" The Doctor smiled sheepishly before stepping between them and holding his arms out for them both to take.

***  
"Look sharp, we have guests!" Miss Chandrakala clapped at the staff as The Doctor, Donna and Rose approached.

The Doctor waved, "Good afternoon!"

"Drinks sir? Ma'ams?" a young waiter asked them.

"Sidecar, please." Donna told him

Rose nodded her agreement, "And for me thank you." She said politely

"And a lime and soda, thank you." The Doctor informed him.

"May I announce, Lady Clemency Eddison." Greeves' voice rang out and a middle aged blonde woman walked over to the group of travellers.

**"**Lady Eddison." The Doctor held out his hands to shake hers

**"**Forgive me, but who exactly might you be... and what are you doing here?" Lady Eddison asked confusedly.

"I'm the Doctor. This is my wife Rose, and this is Miss Donna Noble... of the, Chiswick Nobles."

Rose blushed slightly when the Doctor referred to her as his wife, "Hello," she greeted the other woman.

"Good afternoon, my lady. Topping day, what? Spiffing! Top hole!" Donna began to speak in a posh accent.

The Doctor quirked an eyebrow at Rose before turning to Donna,

**"**No no no no, no. Don't do that, don't." He whispered to her before pulling out his psychic paper and presenting it to Lady Eddison.

**"**We were thrilled to receive your invitation, my lady. We met at the Ambassador's reception." He lied easily.

**"**Doctor, how could I forget you? But one must be sure with the Unicorn on the loose." She covered up quickly.

**"**A unicorn? Brilliant! Where?" the Doctor exclaimed whilst Rose rolled her eyes at him.

**"**_The_ Unicorn." Lady Eddison stressed, "The jewel thief. And nobody knows who he is. He's just struck again, snatched Lady Babbington's pearls right from under her nose."

Rose turned to Donna, "Funny place to wear pearls."

**"**May I announce, the Colonel Hugh Curbishley,the Honourable Roger Curbishley." Greeves announced.

**"**My husband. And my son." Lady Eddison explained

**"**Forgive me for not rising. Never been the same ever since that flu epidemic back in '18." The colonel explained his wheelchair.

"My word, you are a super lady." Roger smiled at Donna

"Oh, I like the cut of your jib. Chin chin." She raised her glass

"Hello, I'm the Doctor. And this is my wife, Rose." He introduced them both.

"How do you do?"

"Very well." Rose shook his hand

"How come she's an Eddison but her husband and son are Curbishleys?" Donna asked as Roger and Davenport chatted.

"The Eddison title descends through her. One day Roger will be a lord." The Doctor explained.

_"_Robina Redmond!" Greeves announced another guest

**"**She's the absolute hit of the social scene, a must." Lady Eddison insisted, "Miss Redmond!" she greeted.

**"**Spiffing to meet you at last, my lady. What super fun!"

_"_Reverend Arnold Golightly." The vicar they saw earlier approached

**"**Ah, Reverend. How are you? I heard about the church last Thursday night. Those ruffians breaking in." Lady Eddison exclaimed.

**"**You apprehended them, I hear." The colonel spoke

**"**As the Christian Fathers taught me, we must forgive them their trespasses. Quite literally." He replied.

**"**Some of these young boys deserve a descent thrashing." Roger said

**"**Couldn't agree more, sir." Davenport agreed with a meaningful look.

Donna leaned in to talk to Rose, "Typical. All the decent men are on the other bus."

"Yeah, tell me about it." She replied

"Or Time Lords." The Doctor said indignantly

Rose squeezed his hand reassuringly, "Of course Doctor."

**"**Now, my lady, what about this special guest you promised us?" Roger asked

**"**Here she is, a lady who needs no introduction!" Lady Eddison pointed to the approaching woman.

_"_No, no, please. Don't. Thank you, Lady Eddison. Honestly, there's no need." She said, waving off the people's applause and holding out a hand to the Doctor.

"Agatha Christie." She introduced herself

"What about her?" Rose asked, oblivious.

"That's me." She replied.

"Nooo. You're kidding." Donna said disbelievingly.

The Doctor shook her hand enthusiastically, "Agatha Christie! I was just talking about you the other day. I said, 'I bet she's brilliant' didn't I Rose?"

She nodded her head, "I'm the Doctor, this is Rose and this is Donna. Ohhh, I love your stuff. What a mind! You fool me every time. Well, almost every time. Well, once or twice. Well, once. But it was a good once!"

"You make a rather unusual couple." Agatha gestured between the Doctor and Donna.

"Oh, no no no no, we're not married." The Doctor exclaimed, shooting Rose a look when she unsuccessfully stifled a laugh.

"We're not a couple." Donna agreed.

**"**Well obviously not. No wedding ring." She said, "And he clearly has eyes only for Rose."

"Oh oh, you don't miss a trick." The Doctor grinned.

"I'd stay that way if I were you. The thrill is in the chase, never in the capture." She directed this at Donna.

"Mrs Christie, I'm so glad you could come. I'm one of your greatest followers. I've read all six of your books. Is, ah, Mr Christie not joining us?" Lady Eddison asked

"Is he needed? Can't a woman make her own way in the world?" Agatha countered

"Don't give my wife ideas." The colonel laughed

"Now Mrs Christie, I have a question." Roger jumped in, "Why a Belgian detective?"

The Doctor walked over and snatched the colonel's newspaper,

"Rude." Rose hissed at him

"'Scuse me." He added as an afterthought.

"Belgians make such lovely buns." Agatha stated in the background, making everyone laugh.

"I say, where on earth is Professor Peach? He'd love to meet Mrs Christie." Roger asked

"Said he was going to the library." The reverend told him.

The Doctor beckoned Donna over to himself and Rose, whilst Miss Chandrakala went to fetch Professor Peach.

"The date on this newspaper." He said

"Oh," Rose realised what he was worried about

"What about it?" Donna asked the pair

"It's the day Agatha Christie disappeared." Rose answered before he could, and he looked at her in surprise.

**"**She'd just discovered her husband was having an affair." The Doctor explained the details to Donna

"You'd never think to look at her. Smiling away."

"Well, she's British and moneyed. That's what they do. They carry on. Except for this one time. No one knows exactly what happened, she just vanished. Her car will be found tomorrow morning by the side of a lake. Ten days later, Agatha Christie turns up in a hotel in Harrogate. Said she'd lost her memory. She never spoke about the disappearance till the day she died, but whatever it was…"

"Oh, I know that look." Rose groaned at the Doctor's curious expression.

"It's about to happen." Donna said

"Right here, right now." He agreed.

As if on cue, Miss Chandrakala came running out of the house, "Professor! The library! Murder! Murder!"

The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her in the direction of the library with Donna and Agatha following closely.

"Oh my goodness." Greeves exclaimed when he arrived

"Bashed on the head. Blunt instrument. Watch broke as he fell; time of death was quarter past four." He joined Rose in searching through the papers on the desk.

"Bit of pipe. Call me Hercule Poirot, but I reckon that's blunt enough." Donna said, picking up a piece of pipe on the floor.

"Nothing worth killing for in that lot, dry as dust." Rose said

"Hold on. The body in the library? I mean, Professor Peach, in the library, with the lead piping?" Donna asked incredulously.

**"**Let me see." Lady Eddison said as the other guests arrived

"Out of my way!" the colonel ordered gruffly

**"**Gerald!" Lady Eddison cried

"Saints preserve us!" The reverend begged.

**"**Oh how awful..." Robina exclaimed

"Someone should call the police." Agatha piped up.

"You don't have to." The Doctor flashed the psychic paper, "Chief Inspector Smith from Scotland Yard. Known as the Doctor. Miss Noble and Miss Tyler are the plucky young girls who help me out."

"I say." Lady Eddison gasped.

"Mrs Christie was right. Go into the sitting room. I will question each of you in turn." The Doctor informed them.

"Come along, do as the Doctor says. Leave the room undisturbed." Agatha ushered the others out.

"'The plucky young girls who help me out?'" Donna admonished.

The Doctor bent down to inspect the floor, "No policewomen in 1926." He said distractedly.

"I'll pluck you in a minute. Why don't we phone the real police?" Donna asked

**"**Well the last thing we want is PC Plod sticking his nose in." Scraping something off the floor with a stick, "...especially now I've found this! Morphic residue."

"Morphic? Doesn't sound very 1926." Rose said

"It's left behind when certain species genetically re-encode. Ever seen anything like it in Pete's world?"

"No." Rose furrowed her brow slightly

"The murderer's an alien." Donna sighed

"Which means, one of that lot is an alien in human form." He confirmed

"Yeah, but think about it. There's a murder, a mystery, and Agatha Christie." Donna looked at them

"So? Happens to me all the time." The Doctor said, smelling the slimy substance and holding it under Rose's nose for her to sniff

"No, but isn't that a bit weird? Agatha Christie didn't walk around surrounded by murders. Not really. I mean that's like meeting Charles Dickens, and he's surrounded by ghosts. At Christmas." Donna replied.

**"**Well..." Rose exchanged a look with the Doctor.

"Seriously?" she scoffed at them

They both put on identical grins and looked at her,

"Oh, come on! It's not like we could drive across country and find Enid Blyton having tea with Noddy. Could we? Noddy's not real. Is he? Tell me there's no Noddy!" Donna cried.

He grabbed her shoulders, "There's no Noddy." And made his way out

"Next thing you know, you'll be telling me it's like Murder On The Orient Express, and they all did it!" Donna said just as they met Agatha at the bottom of the stairs.

"Murder on the Orient Express?" Agatha asked, intrigued

"Oh, yeah. One of your best!" Donna complimented

"But not yet." The Doctor said quietly

"Marvellous idea though." The author said.

"Yeah. Tell you what, copyright Donna Noble, okay?"

"Anyway! Agatha and I will question the suspects, Rose, Donna why don't you search the bedrooms. Look for clues."The Doctor instructed, "Any more residue." He whispered to Rose, handing her a magnifying glass.

_"_You'll need this." He told her

"Is that for real?" she asked

"Go on. You're ever so plucky." He teased them, watching as they went upstairs.

"Right then!" He turned to face the other woman, "Solving a murder mystery with Agatha Christie, brilliant!"

"How like a man to have fun, while there's disaster all around him."

"Sorry, yeah." He apologised

"I'll work with you, gladly. But for the sake of justice. Not your own amusement."

"Yeah."

***  
Upstairs, Donna and Rose tried to open a door, only to find it locked,

"You won't find anything in there." Greeves appeared behind them.

"How come it's locked?" Rose asked

"Lady Eddison commands it to be so." The butler replied

"And we command it to be otherwise. Scotland Yard, pip-pip." Donna said impatiently.

"Why's it locked in the first place?" Rose asked as he moved to open the door.

"Many years ago, when my father was butler to the family, Lady Eddison returned from India with malaria. She locked herself in this room for six months until she recovered. Since then, the room has remained undisturbed." He opened the door and the women stepped inside.

"There's nothing in here." He told them

"How long's it been empty?" Rose inquired

"Forty years."

"Why would she seal it off? All right, we need to investigate, you just... buttle off." Donna told him.

She closed the door behind Rose and watched as the other woman sank down onto the bed slowly,

"You alright?" she asked, putting a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

"Yeah, course. I just need a minute." She was feeling a little tired at the moment.

A buzzing filled the room, "1926, they've still got bees. Oh, what a noise! All right, busy bee, I'll let you out. Hold on, I shall find you with my amazing powers of detection." Donna said, smirking to Rose as she picked up the magnifying glass and held it to her eye.

She pulled the heavy curtains apart to see a giant wasp outside the window. Both women screamed as the insect smashed through the glass.

"That's impossible!" Rose cried, leaping from the bed and backing towards the door, Donna not far behind.

**"**Doctor!" they screamed in unison.

The wasp advanced on them, and Donna pulled out the magnifying glass, concentrating the sunlight onto its body, slowing it down.

"DOCTOR!"

They ran out of the room and shut the door, but the wasp's sting stabbed through the wood, throwing splinters everywhere, they screamed and almost collided with the Doctor and Agatha.

"It's a giant wasp!" Donna screamed

"What d'you mean, a giant wasp?" the Doctor pulled Rose behind him protectively.

"I mean, a wasp that's giant!"

"It's only a silly little insect." Agatha said

"When I say giant, I don't mean big, I mean flippin' enormous! Look at its sting!"

"Let me see." He said, entering the room, ready to fight the alien but finding it empty. "It's gone. Buzzed off." He said, looking around.

"But that's fascinating..." Agatha said in wonder, bending to examine the sting.

"I wouldn't touch that," Rose warned at the same time as the Doctor spoke,

"D-D-D-Don't touch it! Don't touch it! Let me..."he collects some residue in a test tube "Giant wasp... Well, tons of amorphous insectivorous life forms, but none in this galactic vector."

"I think I understood some of those words. Enough to know that you're completely potty." Agatha spoke.

"You have no idea." Rose muttered, rolling her eyes playfully when the Doctor glared.

"Lost its sting though, that makes it defenceless." Donna said confidently.

**"**Oh, creature this size, got to be able to grow a new one." The Doctor surmised,

"Can we return to sanity? There are no such things as giant wasps!" Agatha cried

"Exactly. So, question is, what's it doing here?"

The group raced outside when they heard a large thud, to see Miss Chandrakala being hit by a gargoyle that was pushed from the roof. Rose rushed to her side, holding her hand and encouraging her when she tried to speak.

"The... poor... little... child..." the maid managed to choke out before becoming still. They looked up at the sound of a loud buzz and saw the wasp,

_"_There!" the Doctor cried just before it flew away. "Come on!"

**"**Hey, this makes a change, there's a monster, and we're chasing it." Rose joked breathlessly

"Can't be a monster, it's a trick, they do it with mirrors!" Agatha told her as they raced up the stairs, finding the wasp trying to escape. **"**By all that's holy!" she cried when she saw the creature.

"Oh, but you are wonderful!" The Doctor all but squealed happily, "Now, just stop, stop there!" he said sternly, backing away.

"Oi, fly boy!" Donna held up the magnifying glass and it flew away.

_"_Don't let it get away! Quick! Before it reverts back to human form." The Doctor instructed, leaving behind a gasping Rose.

The others ran down the stairs, stopping suddenly when they came to an empty corridor,

**"**Where are you? Come on! There's nowhere to run. Show yourself!" the Doctor yelled and each of the doors along the corridor opened to reveal the family and all the guests emerging from their rooms.

_"_Oh, that's just cheating." He whined, spinning around he finally noticed the person missing from the group, "Rose!" he called, making his way back the way they came.

"Sorry," she said, leaning against the wall, she was still out of breath.

"Are you alright?" he asked desperately, after pulling her into his embrace,

"Yeah, just tired I think." She assured him. He looked doubtful but chose not to press the subject until they were safely back on the TARDIS.

***  
"My faithful companion, this is terrible!" Lady Eddison sobbed into a handkerchief as they made their way into the drawing room.

"Excuse me, my lady, but she was on her way to tell you something." Davenport informed her

"She never found me. She had an appointment with death instead."

"She said "The poor little child". Does that mean anything to anyone?" the Doctor questioned.

"No children in this house for years," the colonel paused and frowned at Davenport and Roger, "highly unlikely there will be."

"Mrs Christie, you must have twigged something, you've written simply the best detective stories." Lady Eddison reasoned.

"Tell us, what would Poirot do?" the reverend asked

"Heaven's sake! Cards on the table, woman, you should be helping us." The colonel shouted.

"But, I'm merely a writer." She gave a self-deprecating smile and Rose sat beside her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"But surely you can crack it, these events, they're exactly like one of your plots." Robina put in.

"That's what I've been saying! Agatha, that's gotta mean something." Donna said.

"But, what? I've no answers. None. I'm sorry, all of you, I'm truly sorry, but I've failed. If anyone can help us then it's the Doctor, not me."

***  
Rose and Donna led Agatha to sit outside, away from the flying accusations from the people still inside.

"D'you know what I think?" Donna started, "Those books of yours, one day they could turn them into films, they could be talking pictures."

"Talking pictures? Pictures that... talk? What do you mean?" Agatha was confused,

**"**Oh, blimey, I've done it again haven't I?" Donna looked at Rose for help.

"You're a brilliant writer Agatha," Rose said kindly, "Those people in there are just scared, they're just looking for somebody to blame. That doesn't mean it's your fault."

"I appreciate you trying to be kind, but you're right, these murders are like my own creations. It's as though someone's mocking me, and I've had enough scorn for one lifetime." Agatha replied.

**"**Yeah... Thing is, I had this bloke once, I was engaged, and I loved him, I really did. Turns out he was lying through his teeth. But d'you know what? I moved on. I was lucky, I found the Doctor, and it's changed my life. There's always someone else." Donna assured her.

"I see. Is my marriage the stuff of gossip now?" Agatha asked, embarrassed.

"No! I just… sorry."

"No matter. The stories are true. I found my husband with another woman. A younger, prettier woman, isn't it always the way?" Agatha finished bitterly.

"Well, mine was with a giant spider, but, same difference." Donna stated.

Rose gasped, "You have got to tell me that story!"

"You people talk such wonderful nonsense." Agatha laughed.

**"**Agatha, people love your books, they really do, they're gonna be reading them for years to come." Donna told her.

**"**If only! Try as I might it's hardly great literature, now that's beyond me. I'm afraid my books will be forgotten, like ephemera."

Rose was about to argue with her when the writer got up and walked over to look at something amongst the flowers.

"Hello, what's that? Those flowerbeds were perfectly neat earlier, now some of the stalks are bent over." She said, pulling a small box out from within the flowers.

"There you go, who'd ever notice that? You're brilliant!" Rose beamed at her.

***  
Questioning the suspects in the drawing room, the Doctor opens the box that the women discovered in the garden and finds it filled with tools and instruments.

"Oh! Someone came here tooled up. The sort of stuff a thief would use." The Doctor disclosed to the group.

"The Unicorn? He's here!" Agatha cried

"The Unicorn and the wasp..." he trails off.

_"_Your drinks, ladies. Doctor." Greeves enters the room

**"**Very good, Greeves." The Doctor thanks the butler and takes his drink from the tray.

"Did you find out anything from the residue?" Rose asked curiously

The Doctor pulled out the test tube, "Vespiform sting. Vespiforms have got hives in the Silfrax galaxy." He answers.

"Again, you talk like Edward Lear." Agatha remarked

**"**But for some reason, this one's behaving like a character in one of your books." He continues, sipping at his drink.

"Come on, Agatha, what would Miss Marple do? She'd have overheard something vital by now, because the murderer thinks she's just a harmless old lady." Donna said.

**"**Clever idea. Miss Marple? Who writes those?" Agatha asked

**"**Um, copyright Donna Noble, add it to the list." She said slyly.

**"**Donna..." the Doctor warned. Something in his voice made Rose turn to look at him.

**"**Okay, we could split the copyright." Donna reasoned obliviously.

**"**No. Something's inhibiting my enzymes. ARGH!" He groaned, grabbing Rose's arm, "I've been poisoned!"

**"**What do we do? What do we do?!" Rose panicked, crouching opposite Donna on the other side of the time lord.

"Bitter almonds! It's cyanide! Sparkling cyanide!" Agatha cried, sniffing his drink.

The Doctor pushed himself up and stumbled quickly out of the room, Rose, Donna and Agatha hot on his heels.

***  
The group burst into the kitchen, the Doctor grabbed by Davenport when he staggered.

"Ginger beer!" he yelled in the servant's face

**"**I beg your pardon?" Davenport asked, offended at the outburst.

**"**I need ginger beer!" He struggled over to one of the kitchen shelves and began searching for ginger beer, discarding and smashing anything that he didn't need.

"The gentleman's gone mad!" a woman screamed as the Doctor found the bottle in question and drank half, poring the rest over his head, soaking his hair completely.

"I'm an expert in poisons, Doctor. There's no cure! It's fatal!" Agatha shouted

He spat out the rest of the drink before answering her, "Not for me! I can stimulate the inhibited enzymes into reversal... Protein! I need protein!" he yelled, leaning heavily against the work surface and panting loudly. Rose stayed at his side and tried to comfort him as much as she could whilst Agatha and Donna searched the kitchen supplies.

"Walnuts?" Donna offered

"Brilliant!" he yelled, stuffing as many as he could fit into his mouth, crunching messily. He starts gesturing to Donna, mouth full, shaking his hand up and down.

"I can't understand you! How many words?"

_"_One! One word!" she shouted triumphantly when he held up one finger, still shaking his other hand to get her to understand.

"Shake, milk shake, milk? Milk? No, not milk? Hm, shake shake shake... Cocktail shaker! What do you want, a Harvey Wallbanger?"

"Harvey Wallbanger?!" he cried after finally swallowing the walnuts.

"Well, I don't know!" she shouted helplessly

"How is Harvey Wallbanger one word?!"

**"**Doctor!" Rose snapped worriedly to hurry them along.

"Salt, I was miming salt! Salt! I need something salty!" he exclaimed finally

"What about this?" Donna asked, holding up a small brown sack.

"What is it?" he asked

"Salt!" she shouted, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's too salty!"

"Oh, that's too salty!" she said sarcastically

"What about this?!" Agatha handed him another jar

"What's that?" Rose asked when he threw the container back without chewing

"Anchovies!"

"What is it? What else? It's a song? Mammy? Um, I don't know, Camptown Races?" Donna began yelling to guess what his next gesture meant, he was clenching and un-clenching his fists, waving his open palms around.

"Camptown Races?" he asked incredulously

"All right then, Towering Inferno!"

"It's a shock! Look! Shock! I need a shock!" he screamed.

"Alright then," Rose said turning him around, she placed her hand on his chest and her eyes began to glow, her voice took on an echoing quality, "I am the Bad Wolf." She said and staggered backwards slightly when her eyes returned to their normal hazel colour.

The Doctor's eyes went wide in shock for a moment, before his head flew back and he breathed out a large cloud of grey smoke.

"Detox!" he said, wiping his mouth, "I must do that more often!"

"Alright?" he looked at Rose who blinked to clear her head and nodded, "Good. We can talk about that later." He promised, giving her a meaningful look.

"You two are impossible! Who are you?" Agatha asked, the Doctor winked at her.

***  
"A terrible day for all of us," the Doctor began as the group ate dinner, "The Professor struck down, Miss Chandrakala taken cruelly from us… and yet we still take dinner." Lightning flashed outside and a clap of thunder sounded above them.

"We are British, Doctor. What else must we do?" Lady Eddison challenged.

"Then someone tried to poison me," he continued, ignoring her, "Any one of you had the chance to put cyanide in my drink. But it rather gave me an idea."

"And what would that be?" the reverend inquired carefully.

"Well…poison. Drink up!" he said cheerily, causing everyone to stare at him suspiciously, "I've laced the soup with pepper." He explained.

"Ah, I thought it was jolly spicy." The colonel said.

"But the active ingredient of pepper is piperine. Traditionally used as an insecticide. So, anyone got the shivers?" he asked the group of confused faces staring back at him.

"What the deuce is that!?" the colonel shouted as a large gust of wind caused the windows to burst open, candles flickering out.

"Listen… listen, listen, listen!" the Doctor shushed the group to listen to a loud buzzing.

"No, it can't be..." Lady Eddison gasped at the sound.

"Show yourself, demon!" Agatha cried to the room.

"Nobody move!" the Doctor ordered, when they began to do the opposite, "No, don't, stay where you are!"

The vespiform appeared at the window, casting ominous shadows on the room as the lightning continued to flash.

"Out, out, out, out!" the Doctor cried, pushing Rose and Agatha ahead of himself and into a small room together with Donna and Greeves.

"Not you, Agatha. You've got a long, long life to live yet." He warned and took a sword down from its place on the wall.

"Well, we know the butler didn't do it!" Donna said exasperatedly

The Doctor ran back into the dining room, "Then who did?"

When they went in, the room was in disarray, the guests scattered around the room in astonishment.

"My jewellery! The Firestone! It's gone! Stolen…" Lady Eddison gasped.

**"**Roger..." Davenport cried in horror at the body of the fallen man; Roger was still sat in his chair, with his face in a bowl and a knife protruding from his back.

"My son … my child!" Lady Eddison sobbed, hugging his body.

***  
When Rose entered the drawing room Donna and Agatha were sat on the sofa and the Doctor stood in front of the fireplace, his posture was tense and she knew he was upset at not being able to save Roger.

"Poor Davenport," Rose said, "Roger's dead and he can't even mourn him."

" 1926, it's more like the dark ages." Donna nodded her agreement

"Did you enquire after the necklace?" Agatha asked the women

**"**Lady Eddison bought it back from India.It's worth thousands." Donna informed her.

"It can sting, it can fly. It could wipe us all out in seconds, why is it playing this game?" the Doctor pondered.

"Every murder is essentially the same. They are committed because somebody wants something." Agatha suggested.

**"**What does a Vespiform want?" he though aloud.

"Doctor, stop it. The murderer is as human as you or I."

Rose shook her head disbelievingly at the woman only to raise her eyebrow in shock at the look on the Doctor's face,

"You're right!" he exclaimed in realisation and knelt beside Agatha, "Ah, I've been so caught up with giant wasps that I've forgotten. You're the expert!"

"I'm not, I've told you! I'm just a... purveyor of nonsense." She insisted.

"No, no, no, no, no! Because plenty of people write detective stories, but yours are the best! And why? Why are you so good, Agatha Christie? Because you understand! You've lived… you've fought… you've had your heart broken. You know about people... their passions, their hope, and despair, and anger. All of those tiny, huge things, that can turn the most ordinary person into a killer. Just think, Agatha! If anyone can solve this... it's you!"

***  
The Doctor stood at the front of the drawing room, turning to address the remaining suspects, Rose and Donna sat off to the side, each with glasses of wine, ready to watch the story unfold.

"I've called you here on this endless night, because we have a murderer in our midst. And when it comes to detection, there's none finer. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you … Agatha Christie!" he declared to the room, adding an extra bit of drama into his words for the benefit of his companions, and sat down beside Rose.

"This is a crooked house." Agatha took the Doctor's place, "A house of secrets. To understand the solution, we must examine them all. Starting with you..." she looked around, "Miss Redmond."

"But I'm innocent, surely?" she challenged uncertainly.

"You've never met these people and these people have never met you. I think the real Robina Redmond never left London, you're impersonating her!"

'Robina' scoffed, "How silly! What proof do you have?"

"You said you went to the toilet…"

Donna interrupted, "Oh, I know this. If she was really posh, she'd say 'loo'." She and Rose cracked up, both slightly tipsy.

"Earlier today, Miss Noble, Tyler and I found this on the lawn, right beneath your bathroom window." Agatha reached down and picked up the Unicorn's box, "You must have heard that they were searching the bedrooms, so you panicked. You ran upstairs and disposed of the evidence."

"I've never seen that thing before in my life." Robina defended.

"What's inside it?" Lady Eddison inquired.

"The tools of your trade, Miss Redmond." Agatha opened the box, showing everyone the contents, "Or should I say…the Unicorn!"

Agatha paused when everyone gasped collectively, "You came to this house with one sole intention. To steal the Firestone!"

Agatha stared down Robina resolutely and the young woman rose from her seat. "Oh, alright then, it's a fair cop. Yes, I'm the bleedin' Unicorn. Ever so nice to meet you, I don't think. I took my chance in the dark and nabbed it. Go on then, you knobs. Arrest me, sling me in jail!" she confessed, tossing her arms about inelegantly and shouting at the room in a broad cockney accent. She tossed the Firestone to the Doctor, who caught it smartly and began to inspect it.

"So, is she the murderer?" Donna asks Agatha.

"Don't be so thick. I might be a thief, but I ain't no killer." The Unicorn refuted.

"Quite. There are darker motives at work. And in examining this household, we come to you … Colonel!" Agatha moved on to her next suspect.

"Damn it, woman! You with your perspicacity! You've rumbled me." The colonel cried and stood up from his wheelchair.

"Hugh, you can walk! But why!?" Lady Eddison asked softly.

"My darling, how else could I be certain of keeping you by my side?"

"I don't understand..." she trailed off.

"You're still a beautiful woman, Clemency. Sooner or later some chap will turn your head. I couldn't bear that. Staying in the chair was the only way I could be certain of keeping you." He turned to Agatha, "Confound it, Mrs Christie, how did you discover the truth?"

"Um, actually I had no idea. I was just going to say you're completely innocent." Agatha said awkwardly, causing Rose to snort.

"Oh... ugh" the colonel was lost for words.

"Sorry!" the author apologised

"Well, well shall I sit down then?" he asked.

"I think you better had."

"So he's not the murderer?" Rose inquired.

"Indeed, not. To find the truth let's return to this." She replied, gently taking the Firestone from the Doctor, "Far more than the Unicorn's object of desire. The Firestone has quite a history. Lady Eddison."

"I've done nothing!" the Lady admonished.

"You brought it back from India, did you not?" Agatha countered, "Before you met the Colonel. You came home with malaria, and confined yourself to this house for six month, in a room that has been kept locked ever since, which I rather think means..."

"Stop, please."

"I'm so sorry. But you had fallen pregnant in India. Unmarried and ashamed, you hurried back to England with your confidante, a young maid later to become housekeeper Miss Chandrakala."

"Clemency, is this true?" the colonel was shocked.

"My poor baby. I had to give him away. The shame of it." She said resolutely.

"But you never said a word..."

"I had no choice. Imagine the scandal. The family name! I'm British, I carry on." She held her head up high.

"And it was no ordinary pregnancy." The Doctor piped up.

"How can you know that?" Lady Eddison demanded

"'Scuse me Agatha, this is my territory. But when you heard that buzzing sound in the dining room, you said 'It can't be.' Why did you say that?" the Doctor inquired further.

"You'd never believe it." She told him

"You'd be surprised," Rose jumped in, encouraging Lady Eddison to tell them the truth. The Doctor smiled at her, she always did have a way of getting people to open up, even him.

"It was forty years ago, in the heat of Delhi, late one night. I was alone. And that's when I saw it, a dazzling light in the sky. The next day, he came to the house. Christopher, the most handsome man I'd ever seen. Our love blazed like a wildfire. I held nothing back. And in return ... he showed me the incredible truth about himself. He'd made himself human, to learn about us." Lady Eddison continued,

"This was his true shape." She was referring to the vespiform wasp. "I loved him so much, it didn't matter. But he was stolen from me. 1885, the year of the great monsoon. The river Jumna Rose up and broke its banks. He was taken at the flood. But Christopher left me a parting gift, a jewel like no other. I wore it always, part of me never forgot. I kept it close. Always."

"Just like a man, flashes his family jewels, and you end up with a bun in the oven!" the Unicorn's voice rang though the room unhelpfully.

"A 'poor little child'. Forty years ago, Miss Chandrakala took that newborn babe to an orphanage. But Professor Peach worked it out. He found the birth certificate."

"Oh, that's maiden! Maiden name!" Donna yelled triumphantly, referring to the piece of paper that Agatha had found in the library earlier.

"Precisely." She agreed.

"So, she killed him?" Rose asked, confused.

"I did not!" the Lady defended.

"Miss Chandrakala feared that the Professor had unearthed your secret. She was coming to warn you." Agatha continued.

"So, she killed her?" Donna asked.

"I did not!" Lady Eddison repeated.

"Lady Eddison," Agatha paused dramatically, "is innocent. Because at this point... Doctor!"

"Thank you." He got up and took his place at the front of the room, "At this point, when we consider the lies and the secrets, and the key to these events, then we have to consider... it was you, Donna Noble!"

"What!? Who did she kill?" Rose gasped when the Doctor pointed at the red head.

"No, but you said it, all along. The vital clue. This whole thing is being acted out like a murder mystery. Which means ...it was you, Agatha Christie!" he moved his finger to point at the writer.

"I beg your pardon, sir!" Agatha cried astounded.

"So, she killed them?" Donna queried

"No! But she wrote! She wrote those brilliant, clever books. And who's her greatest admirer? The moving finger points at you..."

"Don't, leave me alone!" Lady Eddison cried when he pointed at her.

"So, she did kill them?" Rose asked

The Doctor sighed frustrated, "No! But just think, last Thursday night, what were you doing?"

**"**I was… I was in the library. I was reading my favourite Agatha Christie thinking about her plots, and how clever she must be. How is that relevant?" The Lady asked.

"Just think. What else happened on Thursday night?" he prompted, looking at the confused Reverend Golightly.

"I'm sorry?"

"You said on the lawn, this afternoon. Last Thursday night, those boys broke into your church." The Doctor said.

**"**That's correct. They did. I discovered the two of them. Thieves in the night, I was most perturbed." He said as if remembering, "But, I apprehended them."

"Really? A man of God against two strong lads? A man in his forties? Or, should I say... forty years old, exactly?"

"Oh my god!" Lady Eddison shouted when she realised what he was implying.

"Lady Eddison, your child, how old would he be now?" the Doctor asked casually.

"Forty, he's forty!" she gasped.

"Your child has come home."

"This is poppycock!" the Reverend snorted.

"Oh?" the Doctor countered, "You said you were taught by the Christian Fathers. Meaning, you were raised in an orphanage."

"My son... can it be?"

"You found those thieves, Reverend, and you got angry! A proper, deep anger, for the first time in your life, and it broke the genetic lock! You've changed!" he was addressing the Vicar. "You realized your inheritance! After all these years, you knew who you were." He concluded, grabbing the Firestone from Agatha's hands.

"Oh, and then it all kicks off, because this isn't just jewel. It's a Vespiform telepathic recorder! It's part of you, your brain, your very essence. When you activated, so did the Firestone. It beamed your full identity directly into your mind. And, at the same time it absorbed the works of Agatha Christie, directly from Lady Eddison. It all became part of you."

"Mechanics of those novels formed a template in your brain." The Doctor continued his ramblings, "You've killed, in this pattern, because that's what you think the world is. Turns out, we are in the middle of a murder mystery. One of yours, Dame Agatha!"

"Dame?" the woman in question asked in surprise.

"Oh, sorry, not yet,"

"So he killed them? Yes?" Donna asked. The Doctor nodded,

"Definitely?" Rose asked for confirmation

_"_Yes." He replied.

**"**Well ...this has certainly been a most entertaining evening." The Reverend said cheerily. "Really, you can't believe any of this surely, Lady Edizzzz..." he trailed off when he mispronounced the 's'.

"Lady who?" the Doctor asked, picking up on the buzzing coming from the Vicar's mouth.

"Lady Edizzzzzon..." he tried again.

"Little bit of buzzing there, Vicar?"

**"**Don't make me angry!" the Reverend spat and rose from his chair to stand in front of the group of people.

"Why? What happens then?" Rose asked, genuinely intrigued.

**"**Damn it! You humanzzzz! Worshipping your tribal sky godzzz! I am so much more! That night, the universe exploded in my mind! I wanted to take what wazzz mine. And you, Agatha Christie, with your railway station bookstall romancezzzzz… What'zzzzz to stop me killing you?"

"Oh, my dear god." Lady Eddison reached towards him, "My child!"

"What'zzzz to stop me killing you all?" the Vicar shouted, a purple glow surrounding him as he transformed into the giant murderous insect and he dove at them.

"Forgive me!" Lady Eddison screamed.

The colonel pulled her away into a corner with Greeves and the Unicorn. "No, no, Clemency, come back! Keep away, keep away my darling!"

Agatha held the Firestone above her head and yelled to get the creature's attention, "No! No more murder! If my imagination made you kill, then my imagination will find a way to stop you, foul creature!"

The Doctor, Donna and Rose ran out after her, the vespiform following closely, "Wait! Now it's chasing us!" Donna screamed.

The trio closed the door of the manor as they ran outside, "Over here! Come and get me, Reverend!" Agatha cried, beeping the horn of a vintage car.

"Agatha, what are you doing?" Rose cried.

"If I started this, then I must stop it!" she replied and drove away.

"Come on!" The Doctor cried, the three travellers hopping into another car and staring at the vespiform as it hesitated and flew after Agatha.

The Doctor started up the car and followed, with Donna sat in the seat next to him and Rose in the back.

"You said this is the night Agatha Christie loses her memory." Donna reminded him.

"Time is in flux, Donna! For all we know, this is the night Agatha Christie loses her life and history gets changed." He argued.

"But where's she going?" Rose asked.

"The lake! She's heading for the lake. What's she doing?" the Doctor sounded panicked.

They stopped at the Silent Pool Lake and Agatha held up the jewel in her hand, tempting it, "Here I am! The honey in the trap. Come to me, Vespiform..."

"She's controlling it!" Donna cried in realisation.

"Its mind is based on her thought processes. They're linked!"

"But then that means..." Rose trailed off as they stood next to Agatha.

"Quite so!" Agatha finished her train of thought, "If I die, then this creature might die with me."

"Don't hurt her! You're not meant to be like this. You've got the wrong template in your mind." The Doctor stepped in front of Agatha to address the creature.

"It's not listening." Donna snatched the Firestone away from Agatha and threw it into the lake to make the vespiform chase it, drowning itself by accident.

"How d'you kill a wasp? Drown it. Just like his father." Donna said sadly.

"Donna, that thing couldn't help itself." The Doctor argued.

"Would you rather it killed us?" Rose defended.

"Death comes as the end... and justice is served." Agatha concluded sadly.

"Murder at the Vicar's rage." The Doctor said, "Needs a bit of work." He added when Donna looked at him.

"Just one mystery left, Doctor. Who exactly are you?"

The Doctor sucked in a breath, trying to find a clever way to answer when Agatha collapsed to the ground, screaming and holding her head.

"Oh, it's the Firestone! It's part of the Vespiform's mind. It's dying and it's connected to Agatha!"

They watched helplessly on, but then the purple light that had been surrounding the writer died down and disappeared completely, leaving her unconscious, but alive.

"He let her go. Right at the end, the Vespiform chose to save someone's life." The Doctor said in wonder.

"Is she alright, though?" Donna asked.

"Oh, of course! The amnesia! Wiped her mind of everything that happened. The wasp, the murders…" the Doctor trailed off.

"And us, she'll forget about us." Rose concluded.

"Yeah, but we've solved another riddle. The mystery of Agatha Christie. And tomorrow morning, her car gets found by the side of the lake." He told them, "A few days later, she turns up in hotel at Harrogate, with no idea of what just happened. No one will ever know."

"Lady Eddison, the Colonel, and all the staff…what about them?" Donna inquired.

"Shameful story. They'd never talk of it. Too British. While the Unicorn does a bunk, back to London town. She could never even say she was there." The Doctor replied.

"But, what happens to Agatha then?" Rose asked.

"Oh, great life!" he beamed, "Met another man, married again. Saw the world. Wrote and wrote and wrote."

"She never thought her books were any good, though. And she must have spent all those years wondering." Donna said sadly.

Rose watched the Doctor as they entered the TARDIS, he had his head tilted to the side, looking curious.

"What?" she asked him

"Thing is, I don't think she ever quite forgot. Great mind like that, some of the details kept bleeding through. All the stuff her imagination could use. Like, Miss Marple!"

"I should have made her sign a contract." Donna sighed.

"And, where is it, where is it, hold on…Here we go.C..." he pulled out a large chest from under the grating and opened it up, rummaging through its contents, "That is, C for Cybermen,"he threw a Cyberman chest plate at Rose and she squealed at the memory. "C for Carrionites and... Christie, Agatha!" he pulled out a book.

"Death in the Clouds," Rose read the title aloud. The book's cover had a picture of a giant wasp on it, exactly like the vespiform that they had just seen.

**"**Look at that." He said.

**"**She did remember!" Donna said.

"Somewhere in the back of her mind, it all lingered. And that's not all. Look at the copyright page." He handed Donna the book.

"Facsimile edition, published in the year… five billion?!" she gasped

"People never stop reading them. She is the bestselling novelist, of all time." He said proudly.

Rose sighed, "But she never knew."

"Well, no one knows how they're gonna be remembered. All we can do is hope for the best. Maybe that's what kept her writing. Same thing keeps me travelling." He smiled at his companions,_ "_Onwards?"

"Onwards!" Donna and Rose agreed.

The Doctor piloted them into the vortex so that they could have a break before their next adventure, mostly for Rose's sake but he wanted to take her back to the infirmary and check how using the Bad Wolf today may have affected her.

The Doctor sighed, he and Rose were sat in the library, watching a movie in one of the small alcoves that was set up like a living room. A large television screen was standing under an arch, surrounded by a substantial collection of DVDs and Holovids. The Doctor and Rose were on the red sofa that faced the screen, watching some 42nd century romantic comedy that Rose picked out.

The Doctor took the opportunity to speak to Rose whilst Donna went and got some popcorn, "Rose?" he sat up straight.

"Mmhmm?" she answered sleepily.

"What you did today..." he trailed off, "When I said I needed a shock, I didn't mean..."

"You're worried." She said

"I don't worry." He said reflexively.

"You are! You're worried about me using the Bad Wolf."

"I..."

"Tell me Doctor," she continued, "You did all those tests, did you find any adverse effects from the energy?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, "Well...no," and it was true, besides the fatigue (which she was convinced was because of her gunshot wound) there was nothing wrong with her, she was the picture of health.

"So what's the problem?" she asked him innocently.

"I just think there were other ways to shock me without potentially endangering your own life."

"For example?"

He rolled his eyes, she was flirting with him and it was working, "Example? Ah, yes! Examples...you, well, I mean...you could have kissed me." He felt a blush crawl up his cheeks and he cleared his throat nervously.

He blinked and her lips were on his, kissing him deeply and pushing him back onto the sofa. He groaned longingly when she broke away and sat up.

She looked at his face, "Yeah, you look terrified." She smirked cheekily and he growled, pulling her in for another long, passionate kiss.

"Eh-hem." The drawn out sound of a clearing throat told them that Donna was back.

The Doctor shot up from his position above Rose and felt his cheeks turn a brighter shade of pink, "D-Donna," he stuttered, "we were just..." he looked to Rose for help, but she shrugged; offering none.

"Yeah yeah, I know what you were doing." Donna grumbled, "Do me a favour and go snog yourselves silly in your bedroom. Some of us are trying to enjoy a film." She brushed them off the sofa and took a seat.

The Doctor and Rose both gaped at her for a moment, before regaining their composure and leaving the library. Donna waited until they were gone to grin like a Cheshire cat, she sent a silent plea to the TARDIS to force them into their bedroom, apparently they had a lot of catching up to do.

**So that was a very long chapter, and here's an author's note for those of you who actually read all the way to the end...this was my version of the unicorn and the wasp with Rose, please review to let me know what you thought, I've never done a rewrite before and so this chapter was sort of just testing the waters. You may also notice that I've skipped the Doctor's daughter, this is because I wanted ****_One Final Chance_**** to fit into the Doctor Who timeline and so I decided to use the reunion as a sort of replacement for that episode...anyway, thanks for reading...hope you enjoyed it :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey, so here's chapter 8: Silence in the library. Thanks for all of the follows, favourites and reviews so far, hope you like this chapter.  
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or any of its characters. Some lines in this chapter have been borrowed from the episode Silence In The Library. **

The travellers went planet hopping for a good month after that and impressively, the TARDIS only landed them in the middle of a dire situation a few times. The rest of the trips were spent with Rose and the Doctor reconnecting and quickly falling into an easy relationship.

Donna stepped into the console room ready to go somewhere less alien for their next adventure. The Doctor was already dancing around, jabbing at the controls. He beamed to himself and spun around as he adjusted the controls, happily humming a tune she didn't recognise.

"Well, it looks like someone got some last night." She smirked at him.

He spun, sputtering, "Donna! Blimey, you're good at sneaking up on people, I mean, for someone so..."

"Oi! What's that supposed to mean?" she asked loudly, jabbing her finger into his ribs.

"Ow!" he squeaked. "Rose, tell her!" he cried as the other woman walked in.

"Bein' rude again Doctor?" she teased, unable to keep the smile off her face as she kissed him.

Donna held her hand up, "Alright, that's enough of that." She said, "Now are we going somewhere? Or are you two gonna spend the day like that?" she grimaced.

The Doctor blushed and stepped away to land the TARDIS at their new destination.

"Books! People never really stop loving books." He cried, grabbing his coat and handing Rose her jacket before heading to open the door.

The TARDIS had materialized in a large empty hall, light streamed through the glass roof and the room was bathed in silence.

"51st century" he strode across the room with his hands in his pockets, "By now you've got holovids, direct-to-brain downloads, fiction mist. But you need the smell. The smell of books. Deep breath ladies." He did so himself before opening the door with a slight flourish, causing Donna to smirk.

They entered a large, columned area and walked down the steps to a balcony that overlooked the rest of the library.

"The Library. So big, it doesn't need a name-just a great big 'the'."

"It's huge!" Rose gasped

"It's a world" he explained, "literally a world. The whole core of the planet is the index computer; the biggest hard drive ever. And up here, every book ever written. Jeffrey Archer, Bridget Jones, Monty Python's Big Red Book. Brand new editions specially printed. We're near the equator, so..." he licked his finger and held it in the air to test the wind, "This must be biographies! I love biographies." He rambled to his companions excitedly.

"Yeah, very "you". Always a death at the end." Donna commented

"You need a good death. Without death there'd only be comedies. Dying gives us size." He argued. "Oi! Spoilers!" he cried when Donna lifted a book.

"What?" Donna asked as he tossed the book aside

"These books are from your future. You don't want to read ahead and spoil the surprises. Like peeking at the end."

"Isn't travelling with you one big spoiler?" Rose countered

"I try to keep you away from major plot developments...which, to be honest, I seem very bad at, cause you know what? This is the biggest library in the universe...so where is everyone. It's silent." He added, taking out his sonic screwdriver and heading to an information point.

"The Library?" Donna said

"The planet. The whole planet." He agreed

"Well...maybe it's a Sunday." She suggested

"No. The Doctor never lands on Sundays. Thinks they're boring." Rose said

"They are boring." The Doctor told her

"Well, maybe everyone's really, really quiet." Donna continued

"Yeah, maybe. But they'd still show up on the system." The Doctor informed her.

"Doctor, why are we here? Really?" the blonde asked

"Oh, you know, just...passing."

"No. Seriously, it was, 'Oh, let's hit the beach' then suddenly we're in a library. Why?" Donna asked, catching on to Rose's train of thought.

"Now that's interesting." He said, ignoring her question.

"What?" Rose asked

"Scanning for life forms. If I do a scan for your basic humanoids-you know, your book readers, few limbs and a face-apart from us, I get nothing. Zippo. Nada. See? Nobody home. But if I widen the parameters to any kind of life..." he tapped at the keyboard, "A million million. It gives up after that. A million million."

"But there's nothing here." Rose breathed, "Just books..." she trailed off

"And not a sound. A million million life forms...and silence in The Library." The Doctor said and Rose rolled her eyes at the mysterious way he said it, never in all her time in a parallel world had she been able to derive as much fun in a near-death situation as the Doctor always managed to.

Donna shook her head "But wait. 'Just books'" she quoted Rose, "I mean, it's not the books, is it? I mean, it can't be the books, can it? I mean, books can't be alive."

They looked down at one of the books within their reach and all three extended their hands hesitantly towards it.

"Welcome!" a voice greeted causing them to jump backwards in surprise.

Donna pointed, "That came from in there."

"Yeah." Rose nodded and nudged the Doctor back the way they came.

A whirring noise started up when they entered the room and they watched as a pale statue turned its top portion around to face them. It was adorned with the face of a human woman that stood in stark contrast to the rest of the statue.

"I am Courtesy Node 710/Aqua. Please enjoy The Library and respect the personal access codes of all your fellow readers regardless of species or hygiene taboo." The voice sounded again, coming from the statue.

"That face, it looks real." Donna stated

"Yeah. Don't worry about it." The Doctor replied.

"Is it a hologram, 'cause if it is, it's a really good one." Rose said, staring at the figure.

"No it's not, but really, it's...fine." the Doctor reassured the pair.

"Additional. There follows a brief message from the Head Librarian for urgent attention. It has been edited for tone and content by the Felman Lux Automated Decency Filter. Message follows. 'Run. For God's sake, run. Nowhere is safe. The Library has sealed itself. We can't-Oh, they're here. Argh, slarg, snick.' Message ends. Please switch off your mobile comm. units for the comfort of other readers." The node finished with a monotonous voice that made Rose shiver.

"So that's why we're here? Any other messages, same date stamp?" the Doctor inquired.

"One additional message." The node confirmed, "This message carries a Felman Lux Coherency Warning of 5-0-11."

"Yeah, yeah. Fine, fine, fine. Just play it." The Doctor said impatiently.

"Message follows. "Count the shadows. For God's sake, remember-if you want to live, count the shadows." Message ends."

"Donna...Rose..." the Doctor said slowly, glancing around the empty room behind them and pulling Rose closer.

"Yeah?" Donna replied

"Stay out of the shadows." He said enigmatically, heading off to explore another room.

"Why? What's in the shadows?" Rose asked, walking behind and making sure Donna followed.

They walked past the TARDIS and into a room full of even more books. The bookshelves dwarfed them, reaching all the way up to the roof and every available surface was covered with different books.

"So...we weren't just in the neighbourhood." Donna pointed out.

"Yeah, I kind of sort of lied a bit." The Doctor looked at Rose, "I got a message on the psychic paper. What do you think? Cry for help?" he asked, holding it up for them to read. The paper said: _The Library. Come as soon as you can. X_

Rose took it from him, eyebrow raised, "Cry for help...with a kiss?"

"Oh, we've done all that." He dismissed with a sniff.

"Who's it from?" Donna asked

"No idea." He answered honestly, ignoring Rose's scoff.

"So why did we come here? Why did you..." she asked

"Rose," He interrupted her, turning around as the lights began to switch off one by one at the other end of the corridor, and heading their way.

"What's happening?" Donna panicked.

"Run!" the Doctor yelled, rushing over to a wooden door.

"What, is it locked?" Donna shouted when the door wouldn't open.

"Jammed! The wood's warped!" he said, still trying to get it open.

"Well, sonic it! Use the thingy!" She urged.

"It won't work! It's wood!" Rose explained, rolling her eyes.

"What, and it doesn't do wood?" the other woman screeched dubiously.

"Hang on, hang on, hang on." He said, taking out the sonic screwdriver from his pocket, "If I can vibrate the molecules, fry the bindings, I can shatterline the interface..."

"Oh, shift!" Rose pushed them out of the way and kicked the door open.

Donna held the door closed behind them after the others had rushed through and the Doctor grabbed a book and wedged it between the handles, effectively locking it.

"Oh, hello. Sorry to burst in on you like this. Okay if we stop here for a bit?" the Doctor was speaking to a floating wooden sphere that was hovering in the centre of the room. It dropped to the floor suddenly when they turned their attention to it.

"What is it?" Donna asked, approaching it with the Doctor whilst Rose hung near the door just in case.

"Security camera." The Doctor nudged it with his foot, "Switched itself off."

"Nice door skills, Rose." He said, buzzing the sonic around the camera, "You've been holding out on me."

"Well," the blonde cracked him a smile, "you work at Torchwood for twelve years and you're bound to pick up a few tricks."

"What was that? What was after us? I mean, did we just run away from a power cut?" Donna asked.

"Possibly." He mused.

Rose glanced up at the light shining through the glass roof, "Are we safe here?"

"Of course we're safe. There's a little shop." The Doctor replied

"You know that made no sense, right?" she countered.

"Gotcha!" the Doctor cried, ignoring her jab as a little flap popped up on the sphere.

A message scrolled across a screen on the camera in red lettering; _No, stop it._

"Oh, I'm sorry. I really am." The Doctor apologised to the object and set it down on the floor again, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. It's alive." He told his companions.

"You said it was a security camera." Donna reminded him.

"It is. It's an alive one." He said and stood up, putting away the sonic screwdriver.

Another message appeared on the small screen; _Others are coming._

"What does it mean, 'others'? Rose thought aloud.

Donna had an idea and turned around to address another Node, "Excuse me, what does it mean, 'others'?"

"That's barely more than a Speak-Your-Weight machine. It can't help you." The Doctor informed her.

"So why's it got a face?" she asked.

The Node's top portion turned to face her, this one was wearing the face of a man, "This flesh aspect was donated by Mark Chambers on the occasion of his death." It told her.

"Oh my God!" Donna gasped and took a step back.

Rose stared at it, "It's a real face!" she cried.

"It has been actualised individually for you from the many facial aspects saved to our extensive flesh banks. Please enjoy." The Node spoke again.

"It chose me a dead face it thought I'd like? That statue's got a dead person's face on it!" Donna shrieked.

"It's the 51st century. That's basically like donating a park bench." He turned to Rose, "God, you'd think it was a cat nun or something!" he teased cheekily.

"It's donating a face!" Donna cried, backing away further.

"Oh, wait! No!" the Doctor warned and grabbed her by the waist to stop her from stepping into a shadow.

"Hands!" Donna slapped his arms off her, "You realise your girlfriend is right there!"

"The shadow. Look." He pointed at a triangular shaped shadow on the ground near the sphere.

"What about it?" Donna asked.

"Count the shadows." The Doctor quoted the message from the Node in the reception area.

"One. There, I counted it. One shadow." Donna said simply.

"Yeah," Rose caught on to what the Doctor was implying, "but what's casting it?"

They looked around to see nothing that would cast that particular shadow.

"Oh! I'm thick! Look at me; I'm old and thick! Head's too full of stuff, I need a bigger head!" he smacked his forehead.

"Yeah? Well bear that in mind for your next regeneration." Rose said frustrated as the light in the corridor began to buzz and dim.

"The power must be going." Donna suggested.

"This place runs on fission cells. They'll out burn the sun."

"Then why is it dark?"

"It's not dark." The Doctor said.

"That shadow-it's gone." Rose reached for the Doctor's hand and nodded to the floor where the shadow had been a few seconds earlier.

"We need to get back to the TARDIS." The Doctor said.

"Why?" Donna asked.

"Because that shadow hasn't gone, it's moved." He said carefully.

The Node's voice rang out "Reminder: The Library has been breached. Others are coming. Reminder: The Library has been breached. Others are coming." It repeated.

A loud blast sounded and a bright light flooded into the room as the door slid open. The travellers jumped backwards and watched as six figures stepped through the door, each was dressed in a white, futuristic spacesuit. The first figure stepped forward and reached a gloved hand to flick a switch that lit up the face inside the visor with a blue glow.

"Hello, sweetie." She directed at the Doctor, turning to Rose, "And Rose, how is our resident Bad Wolf?" she grinned at them both and Rose felt an odd tingle in the back of her mind.

The Doctor gulped at her words and glanced at Rose but pushed back his questions, "Get out." He told the group.

"Doctor." Donna warned.

"All of you, turn around, get back in your rocket and fly away! Tell your grandchildren you came to The Library and lived. They won't believe you." He shouted, tugging Rose past the woman in front of them.

"Pop your helmets, everyone. We got breathers." She said, pulling the helmet off her head.

"How do you know they're not androids?" one of the other figures asked in an American accent.

"'Cause I've dated androids. They're rubbish." She replied.

"Who is this? You said we were the only expedition. I paid for exclusives." A stout, balding man demanded.

"I lied." The woman spoke again, "I'm always lying. Bound to be others."

"Miss Evangelista, I want to see the contracts." He directed at a young brunette girl, who nodded and dutifully pulled off her bag and rooted through it.

"You came through the north door, yeah? How was that, much damage?" the mysterious woman asked them casually.

"Please, just leave. I'm asking you seriously and properly, just leave-Hang on, did you say, 'expedition'?" the Doctor asked with a wrinkled nose.

"My expedition. I funded it." The balding man stated proudly.

"Oh, you're not, are you? Tell me you're not archaeologists." The Doctor begged

"Rude," Rose whispered, nudging him with her elbow.

"Got a problem with archaeologists?" the woman asked.

"We're time travellers. We point and laugh at archaeologists." He concluded.

"Ah. Professor River Song, archaeologist." She held out a hand for him to shake.

"River Song, lovely name." He shook her hand mockingly, "As you're leaving-and you're leaving now-you need to send up a quarantine beacon. Code-wall the planet, the whole planet. Nobody comes here, not ever again. Not one living thing, not here, not ever!" he saw one of the expedition members begin to walk out of the light, "Stop right there! What's your name?" he asked when he reached her.

"Anita." She replied.

"Anita, stay out of the shadows." He pulled her back, "Not a foot, not a finger in the shadows till you're safely back in your ship. Goes for all of you. Stay in the light! Find a nice bright spot and just stand. If you understand me, look very scared."

They looked at him with bemused expressions on their faces, "No...a bit more scared than that. Okay, do for now." He said walking over to the door, "Who are you?" he asked the man by the door.

"Uh, Dave." He replied.

"Okay, Dave-"

"Well, Other Dave, because, uh...that's Proper Dave, the pilot. He was the first Dave so when we-"

"Well, Other Dave, the way you came, does it look the same as before?" he asked, cutting off Other Dave's rambling.

"Yeah." He said looking down the hall, "Oh, it's a bit darker."

"How much darker?" Rose asked from where she stood in the middle of the room, shaking her head slightly at the tingling still occupying her head.

Other Dave turned to look at her, "Well, like I could see where we came through just a moment ago. I can't now."

"Seal up this door. We'll find another way out." He said heading back into the middle of the room.

"We're not looking for a way out. Miss Evangelista?" the bald man called.

The brunette walked over to the trio, "I'm Mr Lux's personal...everything. You need to sign these contracts agreeing that your individual experiences inside The Library are the intellectual property of the Felman Lux Corporation." She said and held out some contracts.

"Right. Give it here." The Doctor said, taking a contract.

"Yeah." Donna agreed and took one for herself before handing Rose the other.

They looked at each for a second before they all ripped the contracts in half.

"My family built this library, I have rights." Mr Lux protested.

"You have a mouth that won't stop." River said, turning to the Doctor and Rose, "You think there's danger here?"

"Something came to this library and killed everything in it. Killed a whole world. Danger? Could be." The Doctor said.

"That was 100 years ago. The Library's been silent for 100 years. Whatever came here is long dead." River informed him confidently.

"Bet your life?" Rose countered, feeling oddly at ease with the woman in front of her, and she didn't like it.

River gave her a knowing smile, "Always."

"What are you doing?" Mr Lux directed at Other Dave, who was sealing the door as instructed.

"He said seal the door." The man explained.

"Torch!" snatching it from Mr Lux.

"You're taking orders from him?"Lux asked incredulously.

"Spooky, isn't it?" Rose said when the Doctor walked past her to the opposite end of the room.

"Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark. But they're wrong-'cause it's not irrational. It's Vashta Nerada." The Doctor said as Rose and Donna made their way over to him.

"What's Vashta Nerada?" Donna asked.

"It's what's in the dark. It's what's always in the dark. Lights! That's what we need-lights!" he yelled, tossing the torch back to Lux, "Ya got lights? Form a circle, safe area, big as you can, lights pointing out."

"Oi, do as he says." River told Anita.

"You're not listening to this man?"

"Apparently, I am. Anita, unpack the lights. Other Dave, make sure the door is secure then help Anita. Mr Lux, put your helmet back on, block the visor. Proper Dave, find an archive terminal. I want you to access The Library database, see what you can find about what happened 100 years ago. Pretty Boy, you're with me. Step into my office." River fired off instructions and walked over to an information terminal.

The Doctor was knelt with his head on the cold floor, looking at the shadows intently.

"Professor Song, why am I the only one wearing my helmet?" Lux complained.

"I don't fancy you." River said with a smile.

The Doctor got up to go and help Proper Dave, "Probably I can help you." He said.

"Pretty Boy, with me I said! Rose can help Proper Dave." River shouted from across the room and Rose shivered at the fact that she knew her name, the tingling growing whenever they she was in close proximity to the mysterious woman.

The Doctor glanced at Rose, who had a carefully blank face, "Oh, I'm Pretty Boy?"

"Yes." Donna said.

"Oh, that came out a bit quick." Rose laughed.

"Pretty?" the Doctor asked

Donna looked at Rose who had a bemused smile on her face, "Meh." She said with a shrug.

"Don't let your shadows cross! Seriously, don't even let them touch! Any of them could be infected." The Doctor told the others and walked backwards towards River.

"How could a shadow be infected?" Other Dave asked.

"Excuse me, can I help?" Miss Evangelista asked Other Dave and Anita.

"No, we're fine." Anita told her.

"I could, you know, just hold things." Miss Evangelista offered.

"No, really, we're okay." Other Dave insisted and exchanged a glance with Anita after the brunette had walked away.

"Couldn't she help?" Donna asked, walking up to the pair.

"Trust me, I just spent four days on a ship with that woman. She's..." Other Dave trailed off.

"Couldn't tell the difference between the escape pod and the bathroom. We had to go back for her. Twice." Anita smirked.

Donna glanced over at Rose meaningfully and she smiled, taking pity on the young girl.

"You can come an' help over here if you want?" Rose suggested and sent a quelling look to Proper Dave when he rolled his eyes.

Miss Evangelista grinned and ran over to the terminal Rose was at. The Doctor watched the exchange and smiled over at Rose, who met his eyes briefly before looking away.

"Thanks." River said to him whilst unpacking her bag.

"For what?" he asked.

"The usual. For coming when I call." She told him.

"That was you?"

"You're doing a very good job, acting like you don't know me. Rose too. I'm assuming there's a reason." She said as she thumbed through a small, TARDIS-blue diary.

"A fairly good one, actually." The Doctor replied.

"Okay, shall we do diaries, then? I'm assuming you have Rose's somewhere in those pockets." She added and flipped to a page. "Where are we this time? Going by your face, I'd say it's early days for you, yeah? So, um...Crash of the Byzantium, have we done that yet?" The Doctor stared at her blankly.

"Obviously ringing no bells." She continued, "All right, um...oh...picnic at Asgard. Have we done Asgard yet? Obviously not. Blimey, very early days, then. Huh, life with a time traveller-never knew it could be such hard work. Um...look at you. You're young." She said in realisation.

"I'm really not, you know." He told her.

"No, but you are." She insisted and put her hands on either side of his face, "Your eyes...You're younger than I've ever seen you, and you two aren't even married yet." She said, looking at his ring finger before realising what she said and closing her mouth, pressing her lips into a thin line.

"You've seen us before then? Me and Rose?" he asked curiously.

"Doctor...please tell me you know who I am."

"Who are you?" he asked her. River took her hand from his face and a hurt expression flickered onto her features, suddenly a ringing sound echoed through the room.

"Sorry, that was us." Rose said from next to the terminal, "Trying to get through into the security protocols. Must've set something off." She frowned.

"What is that? Is that an alarm?" Proper Dave asked.

"Doctor, that sounds like..." Donna started.

"It is. It's a phone." He said.

"I'm trying to call up the data core but it's not responding, just that noise." Proper Dave frowned.

The Doctor crossed the room, followed by Donna, River and the rest of the expedition.

"But it's a phone." Donna stated.

"Move over," Rose said, shuddering slightly at the tingle in her mind and took over.

"But..." Proper Dave trailed off.

"Trust me, I'm good with computers," Rose said, "I learnt from the best!"

The Doctor grinned at her, "Really?" he preened, thinking she meant him.

"Yeah, Mickey." She deadpanned with a slight smirk.

The Doctor's face fell, "Oh."

'Access Denied' the message flashed across the computer and Rose sighed, turning to look at the Doctor.

"What?" he asked, "Need some help from the 'second best'?"

Rose rolled her eyes, "Just get on with it."

"Right." The Doctor nodded, "Let's try something else."

"Okay, here it comes." The Doctor said as the image of a little girl appears on the screen, "Hello?"

"Hello. Are you in my television?" the little girl responded.

"Well...no, I'm-I'm sort of in space. Um, I was trying to call up the data core triple-grid security processor." He explained.

"Would you like to speak to my dad?" she asked.

"Dad or your mum. That'd be lovely." Rose cut in.

The girl hesitated, "I know you. You were in my library."

"_Your_ library?" The Doctor asked.

"The Library's never been on television before. What have you done?"

"Um, well, um...I just...rerouted the interface-"

The Doctor jerked back from the terminal as the connection cut out.

"What happened? Who was that?" River asked.

The Doctor tried to reconnect but 'Access Denied' flashed across the screen once more. The Doctor continued his tapping away at the keyboard with little luck. "Keep working on those lights! We need lights!" he shouted and ran to the monitor by the desk that he and River were beside.

"You heard him, people. Let there be light." River commanded.

The Doctor's eyes wandered over to River's diary resting beside the monitor and he picked it up slowly.

"Sorry." River came up behind him and took the book, making him jump, "You're not allowed to see inside the book. It's against the rules."

"What rules?" the Doctor asked.

"Your rules." She told him simply before walking away.

Rose watched the exchange and felt a flash of jealousy. She gasped as books began to fly off the shelves at random.

"What's that? I didn't do that. Did you do that?" the Doctor asked.

"Not me." Rose denied.

"What's 'CAL'?" The Doctor asked the room as the words '_CAL-Access Denied'_ appeared on the monitor.

Miss Evangelista began to whimper as the books continued to fly off the shelves around them.

"You alright?" Donna asked her.

"What's that? What's happening?" Miss Evangelista's voice quivered as she spoke.

"I don't know." Proper Dave admitted.

"Oh, thanks for helping Rose with the terminal earlier." Donna said kindly.

She smiled a self-deprecating smile, "The others don't want me. They think I'm stupid 'cause I'm pretty."

"Course they don't. Nobody thinks that." Donna assured.

"No, they're right, though. I'm a moron, me. My dad said I had the IQ of plankton and I was pleased." She argued.

Rose laughed from her spot by the terminal, "Y'know, people used to think that about me."

"Really? But look at you, you're..." Miss Evangelista trailed off, gesturing at the computer.

"Seriously," Rose said, "But I proved them wrong, did something with my life. And if I can, you can." Rose smiled at her.

Miss Evangelista smiled back, only to whimper again when more books flew off the shelves and dropped to the floor with dusty thuds.

"What's causing that? Is it the little girl?" River asked the Doctor.

"Well, who is the little girl? What's she got to do with this place?" the Doctor asked, sitting on the edge of the desk. "How does the data core work? What's the principle? What's CAL?"

"Ask Mr Lux." River countered.

"CAL. What is it?" he directed the question at Lux this time.

"I'm sorry. You didn't sign your personal experience contracts." He told him.

The Doctor jumped off the desk, "Mr Lux, right now, you're in more danger than you've ever been in your whole life. And you're protecting a patent?"

"I'm protecting my family's pride." The man argued firmly.

"Funny thing, Mr Lux, I don't wanna see everyone in this room dead because some idiot thinks his pride is more important."

"Then why didn't you sign his contract?" River asked him, "I didn't either. I'm getting worse than you."

"Okay, okay, okay. Let's start it again. What happened here? On the actual day 100 years ago, what physically happened?" the Doctor asked, starting from scratch.

A panel in the wall slid up revealing a hidden passage, but Miss Evangelista was the only one to notice.

"There was a message from The Library. Just one. "The lights are going out." Then the computer sealed the planet, and there was nothing for 100 years." River told them.

"It's taken three generations of my family just to decode the seals and get back here." Mr Lux said.

"Um, excuse me." Miss Evangelista tried to get their attention. Unsuccessfully.

"Not just now." Mr Lux waved her off.

"There was one other thing in the last message." River told them.

"That's confidential." Lux warned.

"I trust these two with my life...with everything."

"You've only just met them," he argued.

"Nope. They've only just met me."

The Doctor and Rose shared a glance before looking at River warily and both walking over to her.

"Um, this might be important actually." Miss Evangelista's voice sounded from beside the open panel.

"In a moment," Lux said sternly.

"This is a data extract that came with the message." River said, holding up the data file for them all

"'4022 saved. No survivors.'" Rose read aloud from the screen, shaking her head slightly to get rid of the golden mist that had grown stronger suddenly in her head.

"4022-that's the exact number of people who were in the library when the planet was sealed." River said, still looking at the small screen in her hands.

"But how can 4022 people be saved if there were no survivors?" Donna asked.

"That's what we're here to find out." River told her.

"So far what we haven't found are any bodies." Lux said.

A scream rang out, loud and terrified, causing everyone's heads to whip around in the direction o the noise; the open panel. They all ran through the passage, Rose and the Doctor's hands clamped together, they slowed to a stop when they found a skeleton completely stripped of its flesh sat in a chair.

"Everybody careful. Stay in the light." The Doctor told them, keeping a tight hold on Rose.

"You keep saying that. I don't see the point." Proper Dave said.

"Who screamed?" The Doctor asked.

"Miss Evangelista." Proper Dave said obviously.

"Where is she?"

River pressed a button and spoke into the communicator on her collar, "Miss Evangelista, please state your current,"

She stopped when she heard the echo of her own voice and the Doctor shone the beam of his torch onto the skeleton.

"Oh God." Rose whispered and buried her head in the Doctor's shoulder.

River walked over to the skeleton ad knelt down, "Please state your current...position." She pulled the broken collar around to reveal the green lights of the comm. "It's her, It's Miss Evangelista."

"We heard her scream a few seconds ago. What could do that to a person in a few seconds?" Anita asked dubiously.

"It took less than a few seconds." The Doctor told them.

"What did?" Anita asked.

Miss Evangelista's voice came through the comm. Device of her shredded spacesuit, _Hello?_

River straightened, "I'm sorry, everyone. This isn't going to be pleasant. She's ghosting."

"She's what?" Donna asked .

_Hello? Excuse me. I-I'm sorry, hello? Excuse me._

"But that's her..." Rose trailed off with tears brimming in her eyes.

Donna nodded shakily, "That's Miss Evangelista."

"I don't wanna sound horrible, but couldn't we just...you know" Proper Dave asked.

"This is her last moment...no we can't. A little respect, thank you." River reprimanded him.

_Sorry, where am I? Excuse me._

"But that's Miss Evangelista." Donna stated.

"It's a data ghost." River explained, "She'll be gone in a moment. Miss Evangelista, you're fine. Just relax; we'll be with you presently." She said the last sentence into her comm.

"What's a data ghost?" Donna asked the Doctor.

"There's a neural relay in the communicator, let's you send thought mail. That's it there, those green lights. Sometimes it can hold an impression of a living consciousness for a short time after death. Like an after-image." He explained.

"My father lasted a day. Kept talking about his shoelaces." Anita smiled sadly.

"She's in there." Rose said.

_I can't see. I can't...Where am I?_

"She's just brainwaves now. Pattern won't hold for long." Proper Dave informed them.

"She's conscious. She's thinking." Donna remarked.

_I can't see. I can't...I don't know what I'm thinking._

"She's a footprint on the beach and the tide's coming in." The Doctor muttered.

_Where are those women? The nice ones...are they there?_

"What women?" Lux asked.

"She means...I think, she means us." Donna gasped and looked at Rose who blinked tears from her eyes.

_Are they there?_

"Yes, they're here. Hang on." River spoke into the comm. And pressed a button to put it on speaker. "Go ahead. She can hear you."

_Hello, are you there?_

Rose gasped and stared at the skeleton while Donna shook her head silently.

"Help her." The Doctor whispered.

"She's dead." Donna's voice trembled.

"Yeah, help her." He said.

_Hello? Is that the nice women?_

Rose took Donna's hand, "Yeah. Hello. Yeah, we-we're here. You okay?"

_What I said before, about being stupid, don't tell the others. They'll only laugh.  
_  
"'Course we won't.'Course we won't tell them." Donna assured her.

_Don't tell the others. They'll only laugh._

"We won't tell them. We won't." Rose repeated.

_Don't tell the others. They'll only laugh._

"We're not going to tell them." Donna said again.

The indicator lights of the neural relay begin to flash.

_Don't tell the others. They'll only laugh._

"She's looping now. The pattern's degrading." River said, noting the fading green light on the broken collar.

_I can't think. I...don't know...I...I...I...Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream. Ice cream. _

"Does anybody mind if I..." River stepped forward and turned off the relay, cutting off the loop of words.

"That was...that was horrible. That was the most horrible thing I've ever seen." Donna said.

The Doctor wrapped an arm around Rose's waist and laid his free hand on Donna's shoulder.

"No...just a freak of technology." River said, pocketing the comm. "But whatever did this to her, whatever killed her, I'd like a word with that."

"I'll introduce you." The Doctor said, leaving the room and pulling Rose with him.

"I'm gonna need a packed lunch." The Doctor announced when he got to the centre of the room they came from, dropping Rose's hand.

"Hang on." River rummaged through her backpack.

The Doctor knelt beside her, "What's in that book?"

"Spoilers." She said again.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"Professor River Song, University of-"

The Doctor glanced at Rose, who was comforting Donna, "To me, to Rose. Who are you to us?"

"Again...spoilers." River held out a metal lunch box, "Chicken and a bit of salad. Knock yourself out."

"Right, you lot! Let's all meet the Vashta Nerada." He jumped up, taking the box with him.

The Doctor was on his knees using the sonic screwdriver to scan the shadows and Rose was crouched behind him, lunch box in hand.

River watched them both with a loving expression on her face, "You travel with them, don't you? The Doctor and Rose-you travel with them.

"What of it?" she asked suspiciously.

"Proper Dave, can you move a bit?" the Doctor asked.

"Why?" he questioned.

"Over there by the water cooler." The Doctor instructed and Rose gave him a suspicious look.

Proper Dave moved reluctantly to stand where the Doctor told him to and the Doctor continued to scan the shadows.

"You know them, don't you?" Donna asked River.

"Oh, God, do I know that pair. We go way back, them and me...just not this far back." River said sadly.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"They haven't met me yet. I sent the Doctor a message but it went wrong. It arrived too early. This is them in the days before they knew me. And they look at me...Rose won't even speak to me, and it shouldn't kill me, but it does." River muttered.

"What are you talking about? Are you talking rubbish? Do you know them or don't you?" she asked loudly.

"Donna! Quiet, I'm working." The Doctor told her.

"Sorry."

"Donna. You're Donna, Donna Noble." River asked her, shocked.

"Yeah. Why?" Donna asked.

"I do know the Doctor and Rose, but in the future-their personal future." River told her.

"So why don't you know me? Where am I in the future?"

"Okay, got a live one!" The Doctor interrupted, getting up to face the others, "That's not darkness down those corridors. This...is not a shadow. It's a swarm...a man-eating swarm." He took out the chicken leg and threw it into the shadow. "They're piranhas of the air. The Vashta Nerada-literally 'the shadows that melt the flesh'. Most planets will have them but usually in small clusters. I've never seen an infestation on this scale-or as aggressive." He finished.

"What do you mean, 'most planets'? Not Earth." Rose said.

"Mmm, Earth and a billion other worlds. Where there's meat, there's Vashta Nerada. You can see them sometimes if you look. Dust in sunbeams." The Doctor explained.

"If they were on Earth, we'd know." Donna said.

"Nah. Normally they live on road kill. But sometimes people go missing. Not everyone comes back out of the dark." He said ominously.

"Every shadow?" River asked.

"No, but any shadow." He countered.

"So what do we do?" Rose asked.

"Daleks; aim for the eyestalk. Sontarans; back of the neck. Vashta Nerada...run. Just run." He said simply.

"Run? Run where?" River inquired.

"This is an index point." The Doctor said, "There must be an exit teleport somewhere."

"Don't look at me. I haven't memorized the schematics." Lux said defensively.

"Doctor, the little shop. They always make you go through the little shop on the way out so they can sell you stuff." Donna yelled.

The Doctor ran to the door of the shop and peered inside, "You're right. Brilliant! That's why I like the little shop."

"Okay, let's move it." Proper Dave said.

"Actually, Proper Dave, can you stay where you are for a moment?" he held a hand out to stop him.

"Why?" the other man questioned.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." The Doctor apologised sincerely, "But you've got two shadows."

They all looked down to see two shadows starting at the base of his feet, "It's how they hunt. They latch onto a food source and keep it fresh."

"What do I do?" he asked with fear in his eyes.

"You stay absolutely still, like there's a wasp in the room. Like there's a million wasps." The Doctor spoke softly.

"We're not leaving you, Dave." River assured him.

"'Course we're not leaving him." Rose said, frowning at the returning tingle in her mind.

"Where's your helmet? Don't point, just tell me." The Doctor asked.

"On the floor by my bag." He said calmly.

"Don't cross his shadow!" the Doctor shouted to Anita who had gone to get his helmet.

Anita handed him the helmet, "Thanks. Now, the rest of you, helmets back on and sealed up. We'll need everything we've got." He said and popped Proper Dave's helmet on for him.

"But Doctor, we've haven't got any helmets." Donna pointed out.

"Yeah, but we're safe anyway." He lied easily.

"How are we safe?" Donna asked.

"We're not." Rose told her, "That was just a not-so-clever lie to shut you up."

"Professor, anything I can do with this suit?" the Doctor asked, ignoring Rose.

"What good are the damn suits? Miss Evangelista was wearing a suit. There was nothing left." Lux pointed out.

"We can increase the mesh density. Dial it up to 400%. Make it a tougher meal." River said.

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and buzzed it on Proper Dave's suit, "800%. Pass it on." He held it out to River.

"Gotcha!" River said and held up her own.

Rose stared at the woman lie she'd grown another head, "What's that?"

"It's a screwdriver." River told her.

"It's sonic." The Doctor said.

"Yeah, I know. Snap! " River countered and changed the settings on the other suits.

"With me! Come on!" the Doctor pulled Donna and Rose into the shop and headed to the teleport controls.

"What are we doing? We shopping? Is it a good time to shop?" Donna asked.

The Doctor pushed her to the teleport platform, "No talking, just moving. Try it. Right. Stand there in the middle. It's a teleport. Stand in the middle. Can't send the others, the TARDIS won't recognize them.

"What're you doing?" Donna asked

"You don't have a suit, you're not safe!" he yelled, "Rose, you too."

Rose shook her head, "You don't have a suit, so you're in as much danger as we are and I'm not leaving you!"

The Doctor pushed Rose onto the platform beside Donna, "Let me explain..." he pressed the button, causing them both to disappear, "I'm sorry." He said softly.

Rose was blinded by a bright light and a ringing noise filled her ears. She landed on the cold, wet pavement and staggered. She sighed irritably as she looked around, when she saw the Doctor again, she would slap him.

"Doctor!" River called and the Doctor ran out into the other room.

"Where did it go?" the Doctor asked, referring to Proper Dave's other shadow.

"It's just gone. I looked 'round, one shadow. See?" Proper Dave said.

"Does this mean we can leave? I don't want to hang around here." River admitted.

"I don't know why we're still here. We can leave him, can't we? I mean, no offence..."Lux said.

"Shut up, Mr Lux." River snapped.

"Did you feel anything, like an energy transfer? Anything at all?" The doctor quizzed Proper Dave.

"No. No, but look, I-it's gone." Proper Dave began to turn around.

"Stop there. Stop, stop, stop there. Stop moving! They're never just gone, and they never give up." The Doctor got to his knees and turned on the sonic screwdriver, "Well, this one's benign."

"Hey, who turned out the lights?" Proper Dave shouted suddenly.

"No one, they're fine." The Doctor looked up at him.

"No, seriously, turn them back on." He begged.

"They are on." River told him.

"I can't see a ruddy thing." Proper Dave complained.

The Doctor stood up, "Dave, turn around."

Proper Dave turned, "What's going on? Why can't I see? Is the power gone? Are we safe here?"

"Dave, I want you to stay still, absolutely still." Dave stiffened suddenly, "Dave-Dave? Dave, can you hear me? You all right? Talk to me, Dave."

"I'm fine. I'm okay. I'm-I'm fine." Proper Dave reassured them.

"I want you to stay still, absolutely still." The Doctor reminded him.

"I'm fine. I'm okay. I'm-I'm fine. I can't... Why can't I? I-I can't... Why can't I? I-I can't... Why can't I? I..." The lights on his communicator were blinking quickly.

"He's gone. He's ghosting." River said.

"Then why is he still standing?" Lux asked.

_Hey, who turned out the lights? Hey, who turned out the lights?_

"Doctor, don't." River warned as the time lord stepped closer to Proper Dave's suit.

"Dave, can you hear me?" He asked.

_Hey, who turned out the lights?_ The suit's gloved hand shot out and grabbed the Doctor's neck, forcing him onto his knees. He looked up to the visor and saw a skeleton where Dave's face used to be.

_Hey, who turned out the lights? Hey, who turned out the lights?_

"Excuse me!" River used her sonic screwdriver on the suit and the creature let go of the Doctor.

"Back from it! Get back, right back!" the Doctor warned, scrambling away.

The creature stepped toward them awkwardly, shuffling slowly.

"Doesn't move very fast, does it?" River asked.

"It's a swarm in a suit. But it's learning." The Doctor replied.

Four shadows spread out from its feet.

"What do we do? What do we do?" Lux panicked.

"See that wall behind you? Duck!" River used a sonic blaster on the wall to create an opening.

"Squareness gun!" the Doctor yelled in surprise, using Rose's words from when they met Captain Jack.

"Everybody out! Go, go, go! Move it! Move, move! Move it! Move, move!" River shouted and they all ran out of the room.

"You said not every shadow-" River said  
"But any shadow." He confirmed. They looked around for a way out when the swarm appeared at the opening.

_Hey, who turned out the lights?_

"Run!" River shouted and grabbed the Doctor's hand. They ran down the narrow aisle between the bookshelves.

"Trying to boost the power." The Doctor said, buzzing the sonic screwdriver on an overhead lamp. "Light doesn't stop them, but it slows them down."

"So what's the plan? Do we have a plan?" River asked, pointing her own screwdriver at the lamp and immediately brightening it.

"Your screwdriver..." he started, "looks exactly like mine."

"Yeah. You gave it to me." River said.

"I don't give my screwdriver to anyone." The Doctor said

"You mean besides Rose?" River asked, "And I'm not anyone."

"Who are you?" The Doctor asked.

"What's the plan?" River dodged the question easily.

"I teleported Donna and Rose back to the TARDIS. If we don't get back there in under five hours, Emergency Programme One will activate."

"Take them home, yeah." River turned and shouted to the others, "We need to get a shift on!"

The Doctor looked at his sonic screwdriver with worry written over his face, "They're not there. I should have received a signal. The console signals me if there's a teleport breach."

"Maybe the coordinates have slipped. The equipment here is ancient." River suggested.

The Doctor saw a Node and ran over to it, "Donna Noble and Rose Tyler. They're somewhere in this library. Do you have the software to locate them?"

The top portion of the Node swivelled around to reveal Donna's face, "Donna Noble has left The Library. Donna Noble has been saved." It informed them.

The Doctor was horrified, "Donna."

"Donna Noble has left The Library. Donna Noble has been saved." The Node repeated.

"How can it be Donna? How is that possible?" River asked, "What about Rose?"

"Donna Noble has left The Library. Donna Noble has been saved."

"Oh, Donna." The Doctor whispered, "What about Rose? Rose Tyler, is she here?"

The Node just kept repeating, "Donna Noble has left The Library."

_Hey, who turned out the lights? _The swarm came up behind them

"Doctor!" River shouted, but he just stared at the Node with Donna's face.

_Hey, who turned out the lights?_

"Donna Noble has left The Library. Donna Noble has been saved."

River and the others ran back to him, "Doctor, we've got to go now!" she pulled him along with her.

_Hey, who turned out the lights?_ The swarm lumbered clumsily down the aisle after them.

"Donna Noble has left The Library. Donna Noble has been saved."

_Hey, who turned out the lights?_

The group continued to run down the aisles, the Node with Donna's voice and face continued to repeat.

"Donna Noble has left The Library. Donna Noble has been saved."

_Hey, who turned out the lights?_

"Donna Noble has left The Library. Donna Noble has been saved."

The group kept running until they were met with a dead end.

_Hey, who turned out the lights? _The creature inside Proper Dave's suit continued after them, closing the gap.

"Donna Noble has left The Library. Donna Noble has been saved."

"Doctor, what are we going to do?" River yelled at him.

_Hey, who turned out the lights?_

"Donna Noble has left The Library. Donna Noble has been saved."

**Thank you for reading, hope you liked it, don't forget to review to let me know what you thought...Until the next time ;)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey, so here's chapter 9; forest of the dead...I honestly would have posted this chapter sooner since it's been done for about a week, but my internet decided to stop working...sorry for the delay and I hope you enjoy!  
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or any of it's characters. Some of these line have been borrowed from the episode: Forest of the Dead. **

Rose stood up straight from where she was crouched on the ground, a fast, high-pitched _beep_ sounded from her pocket and she pulled out the disc from the dimension canon. She sighed, the emergency settings had activated and pulled her back to the place she'd last landed automatically.

"We have got to stop meeting like this." Jack's voice floated to her ears and she turned around to see the man himself stood a few meters away.

"Now there's an idea," she sighed.

"Need a hand?"

She nodded and followed him back to the Hub; neither said a word until they reached Jack's office. He gestured for her to take a seat in front of his desk and she did so.

"Jack, how long's it been since you last saw me?" Rose asked, she noticed how tired his eyes were and the dark circles that smudged the underneath of his eyes.

"A few months," he said vaguely, "But this isn't about me. What happened?"

She told him about the Vashta Nerada in The Library and about River, about how the Doctor sent her and Donna away.

"Right. How'd you end up here?" he asked. She pulled the disc out of her pocket and showed it to him.

"Forgot I still had it." Rose told him, "The emergency settings activate when a foreign device interacts with it, and you automatically get pulled to the last place it was active."

"Okay, then how do you plan on getting back? You said yourself that the Dimension Canon is controlled remotely."

"I should be able to get the galactic coordinates from this," she held up the disc, "and bypass the emergency settings to feed them into your vortex manipulator...if you don't mind me borrowing it, that is." She added as an afterthought.

He undid the strap around his wrist and held the device out, "Have at it." He said, but suddenly pulled it back when she made to take it, "On one condition."

She narrowed her eyes at the implication, "What?" she asked warily.

"Nothing like that!" Jack laughed, "...Although..."

"Jack!" she tapped her hand on the desk impatiently.

"Sorry." He continued, "I'm going with you."

Rose groaned, acting as though it bothered her, but she was secretly glad not to be going back alone, "Fine."

It only took her a couple of hours to get Jack's vortex manipulator fixed and ready to go. Jack said a quick goodbye to Gwen and Ianto along with a promise to return soon, and he placed a hand on the vortex manipulator that now hung on Rose's wrist.  
They disappeared in a flash of light.

* * *

In the stacks, the swarm-in-a-suit kept walking awkwardly closer, moving jerkily toward the group.

_Hey, who turned out the lights? Hey, who turned out the lights?_

River pointed the 'squareness' gun at the wall and a hole appeared, "This way, quickly. Move!" she ushered the group through.

_Hey, who turned out the lights?_

* * *

The sky was blue above with hints of orange bleeding in and staining the clouds with sunset. Rose and Jack appeared in a red room with another bright flash of light.

"Wow! And I thought travelling with the vortex manipulator was bad!" Jack exclaimed, rubbing at his head, "I'm gonna have a headache for weeks!"

"I don't recognise this room." Rose said, ignoring Jack's complaints, "Coordinates must've slipped a bit."

"I told you we should have tested it first." Jack reprimanded her.

Suddenly, a hole appeared in the wall in front of them, a square that was slightly askew and River, the Doctor and the rest of the remaining expedition ran through.

"OK, we've got a clear spot. In, in, in! Right in the centre. In the middle of the light, quickly. Don't let your shadows cross. Doctor." River said quickly, but the Doctor wasn't paying attention.

"Rose," he said, looking at the blonde confusedly, who was already stood in the middle of the room.

Rose stepped towards him and he opened up his arms to greet her. A loud crack echoed throughout the room as Rose's palm connected with his face. The Doctor yelped and recoiled and clutching at his cheek.

"You idiot!" Rose yelled at him, "You should have learned by now that sending me away really isn't going to do much use!"

"Rose, I-I- I...Where did you learn to slap?!"

She ignored his question and grabbed him by the lapels pulling him down for a kiss, his hands dropped from their position in the air to rest on her waist.

River cleared her throat, smiling behind them and they broke apart,

"I'm so glad you're still alive." Rose told him.

"Me too," he grinned, "You, um, you're not gonna slap me again are you?" he stammered nervously.

She chuckled, "No. But that doesn't mean I'm not still mad at you."

"Doctor," River interrupted them again.

"I'm doing it." He said, getting onto his knees and pulling out his sonic screwdriver to scan the shadows lurking at the edges of the room.

"There's no lights here. Sunset's coming. We can't stay long. Have you found a live one?" River asked.

"Maybe. It's getting harder to tell. What's wrong with you?" he smacked his sonic screwdriver.

"We're going to need a chicken leg. Who's got a chicken leg? Thanks, Dave." She took the meat and threw it into the shadow. In a split second, the flesh had been stripped and all that remained was the dry bone.

"Okay. Okay, we've got a hot one. Watch your feet." River instructed.

"They won't attack until there are enough of them. But they've got our scent now. They're coming." The Doctor said morbidly.

"Oh, yeah, who is he?" Other Dave spotted Jack stood behind Rose.

"He's Captain Jack Harkness." She told him.

"Have we met?" the Captain asked, "'Cause I'm sure I'd remember you." He said flirtatiously.

"Stop it!" Rose, River and the Doctor all shouted at the same time. River grinned happily, she was finally beginning to see the friends she knew and loved shining through the mistrust.

"Well that was..." Jack searched for the right word.

"Spooky?" Rose asked, he nodded, a slow grin appearing on his face, "She's from the 'future'." Rose continued in a stage whisper, "Well...our future, apparently."

Jack grinned, "And mine too apparently."

"And what about the other two?" Mr Lux asked, "Who are they?"

"The only story you'll ever tell, if you survive them." River said.

"You say they're your friends, but they don't even know who you are." Anita said incredulously.

"Listen, all you need to know is this. I'd trust that pair to the end of the universe. And actually, we've been."

"They don't act like they trust you." Anita argued.

"Yeah, there's a tiny problem. They haven't met me yet." She walked over to where the Doctor , Rose and Jack were stood, fiddling with the sonic screwdriver.

"What's wrong with it?" She asked.

"There's a signal coming from somewhere, interfering with it." The Doctor told them.

"Then use the red settings." She instructed.

"It doesn't have a red setting."

"Well, use the dampers." She countered.

"It doesn't have dampers." He said.

"It will do one day." River told him.

"So, sometime in the future, he just gives you his screwdriver." Rose asked dubiously.

"Yeah." River confirmed.

"Why would I do that?" The Doctor asked.

"I didn't pluck it from your cold dead hands, if that's what you're worried about." She said.

"And I know that because?" The Doctor prompted.

"Listen to me. You've lost your friend. You're angry. I understand. But you need to be less emotional, Doctor, right now."

"What does she mean 'lost your friend'?" Rose asked, "Where's Donna?"

"Less emotional? I'm not emotional." He ignored Rose's questioning.

"There are seven people in this room still alive. Focus on that."

Rose gasped, "'Still alive'? Oh God, is Donna dead?"

"I don't know!" the Doctor shouted, he calmed himself and spoke again, "She's not in the TARDIS, I don't know where she is."

"Dear God, you're hard work young." River gestured at them both.

"Young? Who are you?" the Doctor asked.

"Oh, for heaven's sake! Look at the pair of you. We're all going to die right here, and you're just squabbling like an old married couple." Lux shouted at them.

"One day I'm going to be someone that you both trust completely, but I can't wait for you to find that out. So I'm going to prove it to you. And I'm sorry. I'm really very sorry."

River pulled Rose away and leaned in to whisper in her ear, "That tingling feeling in the back of your head. It's the TARDIS trying to talk to you, try and focus on it."

Rose looked startled at how River knew about the feeling in her head, but closed her eyes and concentrated on it anyway. Images flashed through her mind as the TARDIS showed her snapshots of times to come.

_River, the Doctor and Rose eating dinner. Sat in the kitchen with mugs of tea, heads thrown back in laughter. Swimming in the pool. Reading in the library. Writing in diaries that look like the TARDIS. Running from aliens on a frozen planet. _

The images came and left so quickly she couldn't register the faces properly, and was left with just an impression of love, friendship and trust. The tingling feeling disappeared entirely and she opened her eyes, blinking off the golden haze.

"Are we good? Rose, are we good?" River implored.

"Yeah, we're good." Rose swallowed and turned to the Doctor, "We can trust her." She told him.

River took back her screwdriver from a stunned Doctor and walked away.

"What did she tell you?" he asked Rose suspiciously, having seen the hint of gold in her eyes.

"Later." Rose promised, and he pushed away his curiosity, jumping head first into the problem at hand.

"Know what's interesting about my screwdriver? Very hard to interfere with. Practically nothing's strong enough. Well, some hairdryers, but I'm working on that. So there is a very strong signal coming from somewhere, and it wasn't there before. So what's new? What's changed? Come on! What's new? What's different?" He babbled.

"I don't know. Nothing. It's getting dark?" Other Dave suggested.

"It's a screwdriver. It works in the dark. Moon rise. Tell me about the moon. What's there?" The Doctor said.

"It's not real. It was built as part of the Library. It's just a Doctor Moon." Lux said.

"What's a Doctor Moon?" Jack asked.

"A virus checker. It supports and maintains the main computer at the core of the planet." Lux said.

"Well, still active. It's signalling. Look. Someone somewhere in this library is alive and communicating with the moon. Or, possibly alive and drying their hair. No, the signal is definitely coming from the moon. I'm blocking it, but it's trying to break through." The Doctor explained.

"Doctor!" Rose shouted as an image of Donna appeared in front of them.

"Donna!" He cried in surprise.

Donna disappeared, "That was her. That was your friend! Can you get her back? What was that?" River asked.

"Hold on, hold on, hold on. I'm trying to find the wavelength. Argh, I'm being blocked." He said, fiddling with his screwdriver

"Professor?" Anita asked.

"Just a moment." River said.

"It's important." She insisted, "I have two shadows."

"Okay. Helmets on, everyone. Anita, I'll get yours." River said.

"It didn't do Proper Dave any good." Anita pointed out nervously.

"Just keep it together, okay?" River told her.

"Keeping it together. I'm only crying. I'm about to die; it's not an overreaction." Anita said as River put the helmet over Anita's head.

"Hang on." The Doctor said and buzzed her visor black.

"Oh God, they've got inside." River said.

"No, no, no. I just tinted her visor. Maybe they'll think they're already in there, leave her alone." The Doctor explained.

"Do you think they can be fooled like that?" Rose asked.

"Maybe. I don't know. It's a swarm. It's not like we chat." He said.

"Can you still see in there?" Other Dave asked.

"Just about." Anita's voice was muffled as it came through the helmet.

"Just, just, just stay back. Professor, a quick word, please." The Doctor said.

"What?" River asked.

"Down here." He said, crouching down.

"What is it?" River asked, crouching down next to him.

"Look, you said there are seven people still alive in this room."

"Yeah, so?" River didn't see his point.

"So, why are there eight?" he asked.

They all turned around to see that spacesuit with Proper Dave's skeleton inside was stood at the back of the room rigidly.

_Hey, who turned out the lights? _

"Run!" The Doctor grabbed hold of Rose's hand again and tugged her with him.

_Hey, who turned out the lights?_

The group ran through a high level walkway and towards another skyscraper.

"Professor, go ahead. Find a safe spot." The Doctor urged.

"It's a carnivorous swarm in a suit. You can't reason with it." River argued.

"Five minutes." The Doctor said, "Rose, you go too."

She glared at him, "D'you want another slap?" she asked seriously, smirking as his hand went to his face.

"Fine," River looked at Rose, "Don't forget to pull him out when he's too stupid to live. Two minutes, Doctor." River and the others ran into the next building, Jack going with them while Other Dave stayed behind.

_Hey, who turned out the lights? _The swarm barged jerkily through the door behind them.

"You hear that?" the Doctor turned to face the creature, "Those words? That is the very last thought of the man who wore that suitbefore you climbed inside and stripped his flesh. That's a man's soul trapped inside a neural relay, going round and round forever. Now, if you don't have the decency to let him go, how about this? Use him. Talk to me. It's easy. Neural relay. Just point and think. Use him, talk to me."

_Hey, who turned out the lights? _

"The Vashta Nerada live on all the worlds in this system, but you hunt in forests. What are you doing in a library?"

"We should go. Doctor!" Other Dave's voice sounded from behind them.

"In a minute. You came to the library to hunt. Why? Just tell me why?" the Doctor pressed further.

_We did not. _

"Oh, hello." Rose said in surprise as the creature stopped repeating.

_We did not. _

"Take it easy, you'll get the hang of it. Did not what?" The Doctor asked.

_We did not come here. _

"Of course you _came_ here. How else could you be here?" Rose asked dubiously.

_We come from here. _

"From here?" the doctor inquired.

_We hatched here._

"But you hatch from trees. From spores in trees." The Doctor argued.

_These are our forests. _

"You're nowhere near a forest. Look around you." The Doctor told it.

_These are our forests. _It repeated.

"You're not in a forest, you're in a library. There are no trees in a...library." the penny dropped.

"We should go. Doctor!" Other Dave said again.

"Books." Rose said when she realised what he was implying.

"Yes! Books. You came in the books. Microspores in a million, million books."

"We should go. Doctor!" Other Dave repeated again and Rose tuned around to look at him oddly.

"Oh, look at that. The forests of the Vashta Nerada, pulped and printed and bound. A million, million books, hatching shadows." He continued, oblivious.

"We should go. Doctor!" Other Dave's voice sounded again and Rose tugged on the Doctor's arm to turn him around.

"Oh, Dave! Oh Dave, I'm so sorry." He apologised when he saw that Other Dave's suit was now occupied only by a skeleton.

_Hey, who turned out the lights? _

_We should go. Doctor! _

_"_Thing about me, I'm stupid. I talk too much. Always babbling on. This gob doesn't stop for anything. Want to know the only reason I'm still alive? Always stay near the door." The Doctor said and gripped Rose's waist tightly.

He opened a trap door below them and they both dropped down, the Doctor's hand caught a hold of a support strut and held them up precariously with the sonic screwdriver slipping out of his other hand.

"Are you alright?" he asked Rose.

She took the sonic screwdriver out of his hand and slipped it into one of his pockets,"Yeah, could've used a warning though." But she was grinning at him as she reached up and grabbed onto the strut to take her weight off him.

River, Jack and the remaining members of the expedition were inside another round room in the next building over, the room was bathed in a yellow glow from the dim overhead lamp.

"You know, it's funny, I keep wishing the Doctor and Rose were here." River said sadly, after scanning the room with her sonic screwdriver.

"The Doctor is here, isn't he? He is coming back, right?" Anita asked.

"You know when you see a photograph of someone you know, but it's from years before you knew them, and it's like they're not quite finished. They're not done yet." She explained. "Well, yes, they're here. They came when I called, just like they always do. But not my Doctor, not my Rose. Now the Doctor and Rose I know, I've seen whole armies turn and run away. And they'd just swagger off back to the TARDIS and he'd open the doors with a snap of his fingers. The Doctor in the TARDIS with Rose Tyler. Next stop, everywhere."

"Spoilers. Nobody can open a TARDIS by snapping their fingers. It doesn't work like that." The Doctor told her.

"It does for the Doctor." River argued.

"He is the Doctor." Rose looked at her.

"Yeah. Some day." She conceded.

"How are you doing?" The Doctor asked.

"Where's Other Dave?" River inquired.

"Not coming. Sorry." Rose said sadly.

"Well, if they've taken him, why haven't they gotten me yet?" Anita implored.

"I don't know. Maybe tinting your visor's making a difference." The Doctor suggested.

"It's making a difference all right. No one's ever going to see my face again." Anita muttered.

"Can I get you anything?" the Doctor asked her.

"An old age would be nice. Anything you can do?"

"I'm all over it." He told her seriously.

"Rose. When we first met you two, you didn't trust Professor Song. And then she whispered something in your ear, and then you did. My life so far. I could do with hearing something like that. What did she say? Give a dead girl a break. Your secrets are safe with me." Anita said. Rose gave a small smile and sighed.

"Safe." The Doctor said.

"What?" Rose asked.

"Safe. You don't say saved. Nobody says saved. You say safe. The data fragment! What did it say?" The Doctor questioned.

"Four thousand and twenty two people saved. No survivors." Lux repeated.

"Doctor?" River implored

"Nobody says saved. Nutters say saved. You say safe. You see, it didn't mean safe. It meant, it literally meant, saved!"

The Doctor, Jack and River were stood around an information terminal, "See, there it is, right there. A hundred years ago, massive power surge. All the teleports going at once. Soon as the Vashta Nerada hit their hatching cycle, they attack. Someone hits the alarm. The computer tries to teleport everyone out."

"It tried to teleport four thousand twenty two people?" Jack asked.

"It succeeded. Pulled them all out, but then what? Nowhere to send them. Nowhere safe in the whole library. Vashta Nerada growing in every shadow. Four thousand and twenty two people all beamed up and nowhere to go. They're stuck in the system, waiting to be sent, like emails. So what's a computer to do? What does a computer always do?"

"It saved them." River replied.

The Doctor drew on a large polished table, "The library. A whole world of books, and right at the core, the biggest hard drive in history. The index to everything ever written, backup copies of every single book. The computer saved four thousand and twenty two people the only way a computer can. It saved them to the hard drive."

An alarm began to blare loudly, "What is it? What's wrong?" Lux asked.

_Autodestruct enabled in twenty minutes. _The voice of the computer rang throughout the room.

"What's maximum erasure?" Rose asked

"In twenty minutes, this planet's going to crack like an egg." The Doctor ran a hand through his hair.

"No. No, it's all right. The Doctor Moon will stop it. It's programmed to protect Cal." Mr Lux assured them.

The screen on the terminal went blank, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no!"

_All library systems are permanently offline. Sorry for any inconvenience._ The computer informed them.

"We need to stop this. We've got to save Cal." Lux told them.

"What is it? What is Cal?" Rose asked.

"We need to get to the main computer. I'll show you." Lux said.

"It's at the core of the planet." The Doctor said.

"Well, then. Let's go." River suggested.

River pointed her screwdriver at the Library logo and it opened and a metal platform rose from below, a blue funnel of light shining upwards.

"Gravity platform." River told them.

"I bet we like you." The Doctor grinned at her.

"Oh, you do." River said, smiling.

The six of them stepped onto the platform,

"Going down." Jack grinned.

The computer spoke again when they reached the data core, _Autodestruct in fifteen minutes._

The Doctor looked up and saw a globe with energy swirling around in it.

"The data core." He said, "Over four thousand living minds trapped inside it."

"Yeah, well, they won't be living much longer. We're running out of time." River told him.

They ran to find an access terminal, _Help me. Please, help me_, a little girl's voice came seemingly from nowhere.

"What's that?" Rose asked.

"Was that a child?" River asked.

"The computer's in sleep mode." He said, tapping at the keys furiously, "I can't wake it up. I'm trying."

"Doctor, these readings." River pointed.

"I know. You'd think it was dreaming." The Doctor said.

"Dreaming?" Rose asked.

"It is dreaming, of a normal life, and a lovely Dad, and of every book ever written." Lux said.

"Computers don't dream." Anita said.

_Help me. Please help me. _The little girl's voice sounded again.

"No, but little girls do." Lux pulled a breaker, opening the door and they all ran in.

A Node turned around; it had a little girl's face on it. _Please help me. Please help me._

"Oh, my God." Rose gasped.

"It's the little girl. The girl we saw in the computer." Anita exclaimed.

"She's not in the computer. In a way, she is the computer. The main command node. This is Cal." Mr Lux told them.

"Cal is a child? A child hooked up to a mainframe? Why didn't you tell me this? I needed to know this!" The Doctor shouted.

"Because she's family!" Lux yelled, "Cal. Charlotte Abigail Lux. My grandfather's youngest daughter. She was dying, so he built her a library and put her living mind inside, with a moon to watch over her, and all of human history to pass the time. Any era to live in, any book to read. She loved books more than anything, and he gave her them all. He asked only that she be left in peace. A secret, not a freak show."

"So you weren't protecting a patent, you were protecting her." Rose realised.

"This is only half a life, of course. But it's forever." Lux said wistfully.

"And then the shadows came." The Doctor said.

_The shadows. I have to. I have to save. Have to save. _

_"_And she saved them. She saved everyone in the library. Folded them into her dreams and kept them safe." The Doctor said softly.

"Then why didn't she tell us?" Anita wondered.

"Because she's forgotten. She's got over four thousand living minds chatting away inside her head. It must be like being, well, me." The Doctor admitted and Rose rubbed his arm reassuringly.

"So what do we do?" Jack asked.

_Autodestruct in ten minutes. _The computer informed them.

The Doctor ran back to the Data Core and started pressing the keys at the terminal, "Easy! We beam all the people out of the data core. The computer will reset and stop the countdown. Difficult. Charlotte doesn't have enough memory space left to make the transfer. Easy! I'll hook myself up to the computer. She can borrow my memory space."

"Difficult. It'll kill you stone dead." River said and sent Rose a pleading look.

"Yeah, it's easy to criticise." The Doctor said.

"It'll burn out both your hearts and don't think you'll regenerate." River admonished.

"I'll try my hardest not to die. Honestly, it's my main thing." He looked at Rose.

"Doctor!" Rose grabbed his arm to stop him and looked him in the eye, "I'm not gonna let you kill yourself." She pleaded with him silently.

The Doctor pulled out of her grasp and looked away, "I'm right, this works. Shut up, both of you. Now listen, River. You and Luxy boy, back up to the main library. Prime any data cells you can find for maximum download, and before you say anything else, Professor, Rose, can I just mention in passing as you're here, shut up."

Rose glared at him fiercely with tears in her eyes and River shouted, "Oh! I hate you sometimes." Before going with Lux and doing what he said anyway.

"I know!"

"Mister Lux, with me. Rose, if he dies, I'll kill him!" River yelled back at them before leaving with Lux.

"What about the Vashta Nerada?" Rose asked.

"These are their forests. I'm going to seal Charlotte inside her little world, take everybody else away. The shadows can swarm to their hearts' content." The Doctor told her.

"So you think they're just going to let us go?" Jack asked.

"Best offer they're going to get." The Doctor replied.

"You're going to make 'em an offer?" Anita questioned.

"They'd better take it, because right now, I'm finding it very hard to make any kind of offer at all. You know what? I really liked Anita. She was brave, even when she was crying. And she never gave in. And you ate her." He cleared her visor to reveal a skull.

"Oh God!" Rose gasped in horror.

"But I'm going to let that pass, just as long as you let them pass." He finished.

"How long have you known?" The swarm asked, using Anita's voice.

"I counted the shadows. You only have one now. She's nearly gone. Be kind." The Doctor said.

"These are our forests. We are not kind." The creature told them.

"I'm giving you back your forests, but you are giving me them. You are letting them go." The Doctor told it.

"These are our forests. They are our meat."

The Doctor pulled Rose behind him and Jack held up his gun as the shadows coming from the creature grew and stretched towards them.

"I really don't think that's gonna help." Rose told Jack, who shrugged but didn't put the weapon down.

"Don't play games with me. You just killed someone I liked. That is not a safe place to stand. I'm the Doctor, and you're in the biggest library in the universe. Look me up." The Doctor instructed it.

"You have one day." The swarm answered after a small pause and the spacesuit collapsed to the ground.

"Oh, Anita." River whispered, having returned, against the Doctor's request.

"I'm sorry. She's been dead a while now. I told you to go!" he added

"Lux can manage without me, but you lot can't." River replied.

She punched the Doctor in the face, effectively knocking him out cold, and handcuffed him to a metal bar.

"What are you doing?" Rose yelled at her and knelt down to check on the Doctor.

"Stopping him from doing something stupid. And don't think I won't stop you too!" she replied.

"What so you can kill yourself?"

"Someone's got to do it." She pointed out, "Captain, could you?" she gestured at Rose and Jack held her back.

* * *

_Autodestruct in two minutes. _

"Jack! I'm warning you! Let me go!" the Doctor heard Rose's cries and opened his eyes slowly, he blinked to clear his vision and saw River sat in a metal chair, surrounded by wires, "Oh, no, no, no, no. Come on, what are you doing? That's my job."

"Oh, and I'm not allowed to have a career, I suppose? I don't know how you put up with him." River nodded at Rose, who was still being held back by Jack.

"Why am I handcuffed? Why do you even have handcuffs?" The Doctor asked, gesturing to the objects holding him in place.

"Spoilers." River said, winking at Jack as she did so.

"This is not a joke. Stop this now. This is going to kill you! I'd have a chance, you don't have any!" he pulled against the handcuffs.

"You wouldn't have a chance, and neither do I. I'm timing it for the end of the countdown. There'll be a blip in the command flow. That way it should improve our chances of a clean download." River informed them.

"River, please. No." Rose begged her.

"Funny thing is, this means you've always known how I was going to die. All the time we've been together, you knew I was coming here. The last time I saw you, the real you, the future you, I mean, you turned up on my doorstep, Rose had a new haircut and you wearing a new suit. You took me to Darillium to see the Singing Towers. What a night that was. The Towers sang, and you both cried." She had tears in her own eyes at this point.

_Autodestruct in one minute. _

"You wouldn't tell me why, but I suppose you both knew it was time. My time. Time to come to the library. You even gave me your screwdriver. That should have been a clue."

"There's nothing you can do." River told him.

"You can let _me_ do it." The Doctor told her.

River shook her head, "If you die here, it'll mean I've never met you. Either of you."

"Time can be rewritten." Rose said.

"Not those times. Not one line. Don't you dare, either of you. It's okay. It's okay. It's not over for you. You'll see me again. You've got all of that to come. You two and me, time and space. You watch us run." River told them with a shaking voice.

"River, what did you say to Rose?"

_Autodestruct in ten _

"You whispered something in her ear." The Doctor said.

_Nine, eight, seven _The computer counted down.

"Hush, now." River told him.

_Four, three _

"Spoilers."

_Two, one _

River joined together two wires and there was a blinding light.

* * *

The Doctor, Rose, and Jack were stood in the shop, watching as all 4022 people stood in line for the teleport.

"Any luck?" the Doctor asked as Donna came into view.

"There wasn't even anyone called Lee in the library that day. I suppose he could have had a different name out here, but, let's be honest, he wasn't real, was he?"

"Could be." Rose said at the same time as the Doctor spoke,

"Maybe not."

"I made up the perfect man. Gorgeous, adores me, and hardly able to speak a word. What's that say about me?" Donna asked.

"Everything. Sorry, did I say everything? I meant to say nothing. I was aiming for nothing. I accidentally said everything." The Doctor corrected himself quickly before he got another slap.

"What about you lot?" Donna asked them. "Are you all right?"

"Oh, we're always all right." He replied.

"Is 'all right' special Time Lord Code for really not all right at all?"

"Why?" Rose prompted.

"Because I'm all right, too." Donna told them.

"Come on." The Doctor ushered them back to the TARDIS.

They got to the staircase that the TARDIS was parked at the top of, and the Doctor placed River's diary on the railing of the balcony.

"Maybe we should get you one of those." He suggested to Rose.

"Maybe," she smiled.

"Your friend, Professor Song. She knew you in the future, but she didn't know me. What happens to me? Because when she heard my name, the way she looked at me." Donna said.

"Donna, this is her diary. Our future. I could look you up. What do you think? Shall we peek at the end?" The Doctor suggested with a raised eyebrow.

"Spoilers, right?" Donna quoted River.

"Right." He said, looking wistful. He put River's screwdriver on top of the book and ascended the stairs.

"Come on. The next chapter's this way." He told them.

The Doctor ran back for the screwdriver, "Why? Why would I give her my screwdriver? Why would I do that? Thing is, future me had years to think about it, all those years to think of a way to save her, and what he did was give her a screwdriver. Why would I do that?"

He slid off a panel on the screwdriver to reveal the green neural relay from River's collar, with two lights still left blinking.

"Oh! Oh! Oh, look at that. I'm very good!" The Doctor exclaimed.

"What have you done?" Rose asked.

"Saved her." He replied and took off running back through the narrow aisles as one of the lights blinked out.

"Stay with me! You can do it, stay with me! Come on, you and me, one last run!" he begged.

"Sorry, River, shortcut!" he shouted as he disabled the platform in the gravity funnel and dove into the hole.  
The Doctor plugged the screwdriver into the data core to upload River's neural energy onto the index.

The Doctor returned to the TARDIS and stood outside, staring at it, before he lifted his hand and snapped his fingers; the door opened to reveal Donna, Rose and Jack waiting for him inside. He entered and turned, snapping his fingers once more to close the doors.

He walked to the controls, followed by the others.

"Did you make it?" Rose asked him hopefully.

He grinned at her in reply. He held out his hand to shake Jack's and the Captain moved away,

"Woah, not falling for that again." He shielded his vortex manipulator from the time lord and sent him a pleading look.

"Jack, I have to disable it." The Doctor said sternly.

"Sorry, Doc." He said, typing coordinates into the device on his wrist, "I have a feeling I might need it to save you lot again in the future." He looked up and grinned, "Bye Rosie, Donna." He was enveloped in a flash of light and disappeared.

* * *

Rose and the Doctor were sat on their bed; it had been_ their_ bed since the TARDIS moved their things into the same room when Rose had first returned. The Doctor had his 'brainy specs' on and was tinkering with the wires and circuits from the newly dismantled microwave.

"So..." the time lord started.

"Mmmm." She hummed softly.

"Were you ever going to tell me what River said to you?" the Doctor asked.

"Yeah, course, it's just a bit hazy..." she waved a hand around her head vaguely.

"Hazy how?" he implored and dropped the sonic screwdriver.

She told him what River said and did her best to explain the images that she had seen.

"Right." He said, "Are you okay?"

Rose nodded and yawned slowly. "C'mon, time for bed." He pulled the cover back so she could crawl in next to him and stroked her hair softly.

He hesitated before speaking again and Rose could hear his breath hitch slightly, "I love you." He murmured into her ear.

She turned over in his arms and looked at him.

"I just- I didn't get a chance to say it...before, and I want you to know that I do."

She smiled at him sleepily and pressed a kiss to his lips, "I love you too."

**Yay! I thought I'd add a little bit of happiness for the Doctor and Rose at the end of this chapter :) Hope you liked it, don't forget to review :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**If there are any readers still bothering to read this after the delay in posting: I'm Sorry! Instead of rattling off excuses, I'm just going to get straight into it. A quick thanks to everyone who has followed, favourited and reviewed this story, I love getting responses to my writing and you guys are what keeps me wanting to write more :)  
Disclaimer: We've gone over this so many times already...I ****_still_**** don't own Doctor Who or any of these characters. Enjoy :)**

The TARDIS team spent another week on their ship, relaxing; the Doctor repairing the TARDIS and the girls relishing the chance to do nothing after the events at The Library. Donna was dealing with leaving behind the life she had whilst saved to the index core and the Doctor and Rose were dealing with guilt about River Song's death.

"Right then!" the Doctor popped his head into the kitchen where Donna was making breakfast, well, burning would be a better word, "I need to go get some er, more TARDIS parts..." he trailed off awkwardly.

"Not joining me for breakfast?" Donna asked suspiciously. Usually the Doctor would babble on about his TARDIS repairs until you were throwing him out of the room yourself to make him shut up, but today he was oddly quiet.

"Nah. Already had a banana." He waved her off impatiently, "It's er, well...dangerous outside. So uh, don't follow me." He was looking anywhere but Donna and it made her want to throttle him.

She turned away from the burning eggs she was making at the stove, "Alright spaceman. What's going on?"

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently.

"Oh, don't give me that!" she was waving the spatula menacingly in his face, "You've been making excuses about 'repairs' for a week. Rose is worried and it's making _me _worry, so out with it!" she demanded forcefully.

The Doctor backed away at her tone and held his hands up defensively, "There's nothing to tell."

Donna came around the kitchen table to stand at the door, blocking his escape and glaring him down.

The Doctor hesitated, glancing nervously around the room before letting his eyes settle back onto Donna, "Where's Rose?" he asked her seriously.

"In the shower. Why? Are you two having issues?" Donna asked.

"No!" The Doctor cried, shaking his head profusely, "Of course not! No!"

"Well then what's the problem?"

"Honestly?" he asked.

"Well duh!" Donna snapped impatiently.

"Well," he looked at Donna again, as if sizing her up and she stood a little straighter, "I haven't really been looking for parts for the TARDIS." He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

Donna rolled her eyes at his obvious response but softened when she saw his face, "What have you been doing then?"

"I've been...well, I've been looking at rings." He blew out a breath and looked at Donna's blank expression.

"What? Rings? What for?" Donna asked, pausing when the Doctor stared disbelievingly at her, "Oh. Oh! Oh!" realisation coloured her face and she looked at him critically. "You're going ask Rose to marry you?"

"Weeeell...sort of, I'm going to ask her to bond with me. It's kind of like marriage, but a lot more intimate."

"Bond with you?" Donna asked for clarification.

"It's like telepathically connecting with someone. We'd be connected all the time, able to speak to each other telepathically, feel each other's emotions, that sort of thing. It's pretty much forever, until one of us d-" the Doctor couldn't bring himself to even finish that train of thought.

"Don't you have to be telepathic for that sort of thing?" Donna asked.

"Well, I'm telepathic, and with Rose's new found ability to communicate with the TARDIS, it appears she is too. She might need some training, but I can sort that out." The Doctor mused.

"Right." Donna nodded.

The Doctor looked at her, "Unless...is it too soon? It's too soon isn't it? I mean, of course it is! She only just got back. But I promised myself when she came back that I wouldn't waste any of our time together like I did last time, and, what if she says no?" he rambled, seemingly at war with himself.

Donna smiled and shook her head, "Oh, don't be so daft! Of course she'll say yes." She was grinning now, staring at the Doctor in awe.

"What?" the time lord shifted nervously under her gaze.

"Nothing," she replied, "Just never thought I'd see the day when you got domestic."

"What?" he spluttered indignantly, "_Domestic? _I'm not going domestic!" he yelped.

Donna snorted at his outburst and shook her head, "So you haven't found a ring yet?"

"No." He sighed, "I'm not sure how much longer I can keep lying to Rose either."

"Don't worry about that. I'll figure something out, just hurry up and get out there before she comes back." Donna said, pushing him out of the door with a grin.

The Doctor sighed, this must have been the hundredth shop he'd been to and he still hadn't found anything for Rose. Maybe he should just go back to the TARDIS and look somewhere else later. He made a single purchase; a black bracelet for Donna as a thank you for earlier, and turned to walk away.

He had just made it halfway back to the TARDIS when a stall caught his eye, it was covered in jewellery and trinkets from Perrifia Major, a wide array of beautiful gems and stones adorned mostly silver, but also some gold coloured pieces of jewellery.

The Doctor's eyes were immediately drawn to one particular item; a silver ring, it was a modest band, but it twisted slightly at the top to make space for a diamond-like gem and two sapphires on either side. It was beautiful. And the Doctor knew that it was what he wanted to give Rose.

He made the purchase and strolled merrily back to the TARDIS, humming to himself and taking his own sweet time to get back. He had to fight the grin off his face before he entered his ship, stuffing the ring box and bracelet into his pocket.

"You took your time." Was the first thing the Doctor heard when he opened the door; Rose was sat on the jump seat reading a book, "Donna said something about TARDIS repairs." She said, doubt colouring her tone.

"Er, yes. Well, the TARDIS needed a very specific connector to fix the glitch in the monitor." The lie felt awkward in the Doctor's mouth and he blanched when Rose closed her book to scrutinise him.

She chewed on her lip with her eyebrows raised and looked meaningfully between the Doctor's face and his empty hands.

It took him a moment to see what she was getting at, "Oh! Right, yes." He shoved his hands into his pockets and felt around for something vaguely similar to what he had described. His hand curled around an object in his pocket and he pulled it out with a triumphant "Ha!" before straightening and adorning an innocent expression.

Rose's eyes were still narrowed and she stood up and walked over to him with a suspicious look on her face, "Is everything okay Doctor?" she asked him carefully.

He smiled, "Of course, everything's fine. Brilliant in fact."

The worry didn't leave her face and she took his hand and pulled him down onto the jump seat with her, "Doctor. Just talk to me, what's going on?"

One look at her pleading expression and he almost broke, "Nothing, Rose. Really, I just wanted to give you and Donna some time before we jumped into any more adventures." At least that lie was partly true; he _did _think they all needed some time to deal with what happened at The Library.

Rose glanced down and nodded slowly, the Doctor lifted her chin and looked her in the eye, "I'm sorry I've been so distant," he said earnestly, "I promise I'll make it up to you tomorrow." He dipped his head to kiss her. "So?" he glanced at the book resting on the console, "Charles Dickens?"

"Mmhmm," she opened the book and grinned snuggling in closer when the Doctor took it from her and began to read it aloud.

"Chapter six, Cut Adrift."

**Okay, so I wasn't sure about this chapter because of how quickly the Doctor and Rose's relationship seems to be moving. So please review and let me know your thoughts :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi. A BIG thank you to everyone who has responded to this story so far, it means a lot! I know this chapter is quite late, so I'm sorry for that, but I got a bit of writer's block and it gave me a lot of trouble whilst trying to write this chapter :/  
Anyway, you know the drill...No, I don't own Doctor who or any of its characters...**

**Enjoy :)**

The Doctor was bouncing from one foot to the other, whether from nerves or excitement he had no idea. Nevertheless, he had come up with an ingenious and foolproof plan to propose to Rose, but right now he needed Donna to get up, because Rose had been giving him strange looks all morning, probably because he was avoiding all eye contact and lengthy conversation for fear of inadvertently letting slip what he had planned for the day. He had been knocking continuously on Donna's door for a good five minutes before the woman finally gave up trying to feign sleep anymore.

She pulled her hands away from her ears and groaned at him through the door, "What?" she snapped grumpily.

The door opened as soon as she spoke and the Doctor was stood in the threshold, grinning madly, "Donna! You're awake! Finally!"

"Yeah, thanks to you." She grumbled.

"C'mon! Meet us in the console room in ten minutes. Big day. Well, huge, massive, enorm-" he was cut off by Donna.

"Did you say ten minutes?!" she shrieked. The Doctor shrunk back, away from her, mumbling an excuse and waving his hands about vaguely, before he waltzed back in the direction of the console room.

Donna glared at him as she stepped into the console room fifteen minutes later than he requested,

"I thought the point of having a time machine was that you never have to get up early again." She looked at him pointedly.

Rose grinned and hid a yawn behind her hand, "That doesn't work when you live with a hyper-active time lord who sleeps for six hours a week."

"Yeah, well this better be worth it spaceman." She scowled at him when he grinned from the other side of the controls.

He bounded over to the doors and opened them both wide, "Donna Noble, Rose Tyler, welcome to Midnight."

The entire planet glittered, a futuristic structure built on a bed of jewels stood tall, looking out of place amongst the towers of diamonds that lined the horizon. Donna was sat alone beside a pool with her eyes closed. An attendant brought her a phone on a tray and she picked it up when it rang.

"I said, no." She spoke into the phone for the hundredth time since the Doctor and Rose had left.

**"Sapphire waterfall. It's a waterfall made of sapphires." **The Doctor's voice came through the speaker. **"This enormous jewel, the size of a glacier reaches the Cliffs of Oblivion, and then shatters into sapphires at the edge. They fall a hundred thousand feet into a crystal ravine."**

"Is that what you told Rose to get her to go with you?" Donna asked him, smirking when she heard Rose's snort from the other end.

**"Oh, come on. They're boarding now. Four hours, that's all it takes." **He continued on his attempt to persuade her.

**"Oh, Doctor just leave her alone!"** Donna heard Rose though the phone.

"Yeah, listen to your girlfriend." She could almost hear his eye roll as she said the 'G' word. "That's four hours there and four hours back. That's like a school trip. I'd rather go sunbathing."

**"Are you sure that's safe?" **the blonde asked.

**"Hmm." **The Doctor agreed, **"Careful, that sunlight's Xtonic." **

"Oh, I'm safe. It says in the brochure this glass is fifteen feet thick." Donna told them.

**"All right, I give up."** The Doctor conceded.

**"Finally,"** Rose muttered.

**"We'll be back for dinner. We'll try that anti-gravity restaurant. With bibs."** He added

"That's a date." She said with a smirk, "Well, not a date. Oh, you know what I mean. Oh, get off, both of you."

**"See you later."** The Doctor said

Rose agreed, **"Have fun, Donna." **

"Oi. And you two be careful, all right?"

**"Nah."** The Doctor said, **"Taking a big space truck with a bunch of strangers across a diamond planet called Midnight? What could possibly go wrong?"** he grinned at Rose and hung up the phone.

"Famous last words." Rose warned him.

"Oh, come on." He grabbed her hand and pulled her along to board the shuttle.

Donna smiled to herself as she handed the phone back to the attendant, she knew the real reason the Doctor was so excited about this trip. He had picked out the ring to give to Rose during his fake 'engine repair stop' a few days ago and was planning on asking her to be his 'bond mate' when they arrived at the sapphire waterfall.

Which was why Donna was staying behind in the first place, although seeing the waterfall didn't sound half bad, she was determined not to be the third wheel. Of course the Doctor had insisted on calling her again and again in order to 'sell the story' and not raise suspicion on Rose's part.

Donna settled back down in her chair and closed her eyes under the sun, waiting for her friends to return.

The Doctor and Rose had taken their seats on the shuttle and watched as the other passengers settled down. The Doctor was bouncing his knee up and down nervously and sighed thankfully when the hostess came over to them. Rose was looking at him suspiciously and he was worried she was on to him.

"That's the headphones for channels one to thirty six. Modem link for 3D vidgames. Complimentary earplugs. Complimentary slippers. Complimentary juice pack and complimentary peanuts. I must warn you some products may contain nuts." The hostess said in a well-rehearsed manner.

Rose looked down at the items that now occupied her lap, "That'll be the peanuts." She held up the small plastic container.

"Enjoy your trip." The hostess replied with an insincere smile.

"Oh, I can't wait. Allons-y." The doctor said happily.

"I'm sorry?" the hostess asked.

"It's French, for let's go." He explained.

"Fascinating." She deadpanned.

A middle aged man leaned over to greet the Doctor and Rose, "Hobbes. Professor Winfold Hobbes."

"I'm the Doctor and this is Rose, my...well, Rose." The Doctor shook Hobbes' hand.

"Hello," Rose greeted.

"It's my fourteenth time." The professor informed the couple.

"Oh. Our first." The Doctor replied.

"And I'm Dee-Dee, Dee-Dee Blasco." Hobbes' assistant introduced herself cheerily.

"Don't bother them. Where's my water bottle?" Hobbes demanded causing the Indian woman to sit down and drop her smile.

The Doctor and Rose were watching the other passengers with interest, there was a woman sat at the front, in the row next to them, Rose gave her a friendly smile but was ignored. A couple sat in the same row as the woman, further towards the back; Biff and Val they concluded after some eavesdropping, and their teenage son, Jethro was sat as far away from the couple as possible.

Rose nudged the Doctor as the hostess began speaking, "Ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereupon, welcome on board the Crusader Fifty. If you would fasten your seatbelts, we'll be leaving any moment. Doors." She said, causing the doors to close, "Shields down." The shields came down and tinted the windows black, blocking out the view.

The hostess continued, "I'm afraid the view is shielded until we reach the Waterfall Palace. Also, a reminder; Midnight has no air, so please don't touch the exterior door seals. Fire exit at the rear, and should we need to use it, you first. Now I will hand you over to Driver Joe."

** "Driver Joe at the wheel. There's been a diamondfall at the Winter Witch Canyon, so we'll be taking a slight detour, as you'll see on the map. The journey covers five hundred kliks to the Multifaceted Coast. Duration is estimated at four hours. Thank you for travelling with us, and as they used to say in the olden days, wagons roll." **Driver Joe finished and the shuttle began to shake slightly as it took off.

"For your entertainment, we have the Music Channel playing retrovids of Earth classics. Also, the latest artistic installation from Ludovico Klein. Plus, for the youngsters, a rare treat; the Animation Archives. Four hours of fun time. Enjoy." The hostess narrated as the various features popped up on screens and as holograms.

The noise coming from each was loud and they all melded with each other to create a cacophony of sound, the Doctor rolled his eyes and winked at Rose as he pulled out the sonic screwdriver, the familiar buzz sounded and the entire entertainment system shut off.

"Well, that's a mercy." Hobbes said in relief.

"I do apologise, ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereupon. We seem to have had a failure of the Entertainment System." the hostess announced.

"Oh." The Doctor said mock-dejectedly, earning a smile from the older woman across from them.

"But what do we do?" Val asked.

"We've got four hours of this? Four hours of just sitting here?" Biff complained.

The Doctor turned around in his seat, "Tell you what. We'll have to talk to each other instead." He suggested.

A while later, everyone, aside from the woman at the front was sat around listening to Val and Biff's story. The Doctor was trying to pay as much attention as possible to distract himself from his nerves, as much as he didn't want to worry Rose, he really didn't want to mess this up by letting his nerves get to him and chickening out, and he really _really _didn't want her to say no. So this would have to do.

"He was a Shamboni. You know, those big foreheads?" Biff was saying.

"Great big forehead." Val interjected.

"And I said, where's the pool? And he said..."

Val and Biff said the next part together, "The pool is abstract." Jethro mouthed along with the last part and rolled his eyes.

"It wasn't a real pool." Val continued, laughing.

"It was a concept." Biff confirmed.

"And you were wearing a nose plug?" the Doctor asked, amused.

"I was like this." Biff pinched his nose to add a nasally quality to his voice, "Ooo, where's the pool?"

The Doctor and Rose joined everyone else in laughter, both attempting to forget about their troubles for a while and focus on something else.

The Doctor had gone to get Rose a drink while she talked to Hobbes quietly, he removed the small box from his pocket and stared at it, quickly shoving it into his trouser pockets when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw Dee-Dee approaching, he sighed in relief and offered to pour her a drink.

"I'm just a second-year student, but I wrote a paper on the Lost Moon of Poosh, Professor Hobbes read it, liked it, and took me on as researcher, just for the holidays. Well, I say researcher. Most of the time he's got me fetching and carrying. But it's all good experience." The assistant was saying.

"And did they ever find it?" the Doctor asked, intrigued.

"Find what?"

"The Lost Moon of Poosh."

"Oh, no. Not yet."

"Well. Maybe that'll be your great discovery, one day. Here's to Poosh." The Doctor raised his glass and the ring box fell from his pocket. He scrambled after it immediately before picking it up and standing. He checked the contents, carefully looking over his shoulder to check for Rose.

Dee-Dee was looking at him with a smile on her face and he opened his mouth and closed it several times without any words actually making it out.

"Don't worry Doctor," she assured him, "I can keep a secret."

The Doctor was sat unwrapping his lunch with Sky and Rose was in her seat in the row next to them.

"No, no, we're with this friend of ours, Donna. She stayed behind in the Leisure Palace. You?" he was asked.

"No, it's just me."

"Oh, I've done plenty of that. Travelling on my own. I love it. Do what you want, go anywhere."

"Oi," Rose said, "I let you go wherever you want!" He shot her a disbelieving look and shook his head mockingly.

"No, I'm still getting used to it. I've found myself single rather recently, not by choice." Sky told them.

"What happened?" the Doctor asked sympathetically.

"Oh, the usual. She needed her own space, as they say. A different galaxy, in fact. I reckon that's enough space, don't you?"

"Yeah. My ex went to a different universe." Rose fidgeted with the hem of her jacket.

"Oh, what's this, chicken or beef?" Sky asked.

"I think it's both." The Doctor said distastefully

A while later, Professor Hobbes was giving the rest of the passengers an illustrated lecture about Midnight, which everyone was absorbed in, even Jethro looked interested at what was being said.

"So, this is Midnight, do you see, bombarded by the sun. Xtonic rays, raw galvanic radiation. Dee-Dee, next slide. It's my pet project. Actually, I'm the first person to research this. Because, you see, the history is fascinating, because there is no history. There's no life in this entire system. There couldn't be. Before the Leisure Palace Company moved in, no one had come here in all eternity. No living thing." The professor told them enthusiastically.

"But how do you know?" Jethro asked, "I mean, if no one can go outside."

"Oh, his imagination. Here we go." Val sighed.

"He's got a point, though." Rose said.

"Exactly. We look upon this world through glass, safe inside our metal box. Even the Leisure Palace was lowered down from orbit. And here we are now, crossing Midnight, but never touching it." Hobbes said wistfully.

A crunch and a rattle sounded and the entire shuttle shuddered before coming to a complete stop.

"We've stopped. Have we stopped?" Val said.

Biff looked around, "Are we there?"

"We can't be, it's too soon." Dee-Dee replied.

"They don't stop. Crusader vehicles never stop." Hobbes argued.

The hostess was stood at the front of the shuttle, "If you could just return to your seats. It's just a small delay."

The Doctor and Rose glanced at each other as the hostess walked over to speak into the communication radio, and made a wordless agreement to find out what, if anything, was wrong.

"Maybe just a pit stop." Biff suggested lamely.

"There's no pit to stop in. I've been on this expedition fourteen times. They never stop." The worry was slowly creeping its way into Hobbes' voice.

"Well, evidently we have stopped, so there's no point in denying it." Sky snapped at them all irritably.

"We've broken down." Jethro laughed.

"Thanks, Jethro." Val said sarcastically.

"In the middle of nowhere." He continued dramatically, ignoring his mother's remark.

"That's enough. Now stop it." Biff told him sternly.

"Ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereupon. We're just experiencing a short delay. The driver needs to stabilise the engine feeds. It's perfectly routine, so if you could just stay in your seats." The hostess assured them.

The Doctor looked at Rose and jerked his head towards the door to the driver's cabin and she nodded before silently getting up to follow him.

The hostess protested, "No, I'm sorry, I. Could you please..."

The Doctor held up his psychic paper for her to see, "There you go. Engine expert and this is my assistant. Two ticks." The Doctor pressed the button to release the door to the driver's cabin and he and Rose slipped in despite the hostess' protests.

There were two men sat inside the cockpit, bathed in both green and red light.

"Sorry. If you two could return to your seats." Joe told them when they entered.

"Company insurance. Let's see if we can get an early assessment. So, what's the problem, Driver Joe?"

"We're stabilising the engine feeds. Won't take long." Joe replied.

"Er, no, because that's the engine feed, that line there, and it's fine. And it's a micropetrol engine, so stabilising doesn't really make sense, does it? Sorry. I'm the Doctor, I'm very clever. And this is Rose, by the way. So, what's wrong?

"We just stopped. Look, all systems fine, everything's working, but we're not moving." The other man said.

The Doctor scanned the controls with his sonic screwdriver, "Yeah, you're right. No faults."

"And who are you?" Rose asked the other man.

"Claude. I'm the mechanic. Trainee." He replied sheepishly.

"Nice to meet you." She greeted.

"I've sent a distress signal." Joe informed them "They should dispatch a rescue truck, top speed."

"How long till they get here?" The Doctor asked.

"About an hour." Joe replied.

"Well, since we're waiting, shall we take a look outside? Just lift the screens a bit?" the Doctor suggested.

"It's a hundred percent Xtonic out there. We'd be vaporised." Joe argued.

"Nah. Those windows are Finitoglass. They'd give you a couple of minutes. Go on, live a little."

"Well." Joe shrugged as if struggling with a decision before finally raising the shields in the front window. Outside they could see nothing but towers of diamonds glistening in the sunlight, it was hard to imagine how something so beautiful could be so deadly.

"Wow." Joe breathed.

"Oh, that is beautiful." The Doctor agreed.

Rose stared out at the sparkling landscape, "I can't believe Donna's missing this."

"Look at all those diamonds. Poisoned by the sun. No-one can ever touch them." Claude said in wonder.

"Joe, you said we took a detour?" the Doctor asked.

"Just about forty kliks to the west." The driver confirmed

"Is that a well used path?" Rose asked, catching on to what the Doctor was thinking.

"No, it's a new one. The computer worked it out on automatic."

"So we're the first. This piece of ground. No one's ever been here before. Not in the whole of recorded history." The Doctor sighed in awe.

"Did you just?" Claude asked and sat up in his chair to point at something "No, sorry, it's nothing."

"What did you see?" The Doctor asked.

"Just there. That ridge." He pointed "Like, like a shadow, just, just for a second."

"What sort of shadow?" the Doctor asked.

A beeping sounded, "Xtonic rising. Shields down." Joe pressed a button and the shield descended.

"Look, look. There it is, there it is. Look, there." The mechanic pointed but it was too late and the shields closed completely, blocking their view.

"Where? What was it?" the Doctor questioned.

"Like just something shifting, something sort of dark, like it was running." Claude stammered.

"Running which way?" Rose asked.

Claude looked at her them with fear in his eyes and in that moment, Rose was reminded of Mickey. She rested a hand on his shoulder reassuringly and looked at him in question,

"Towards us." He finished.

"Right, Doctor, Rose, back to your seat. And, er, not a word. Rescue's on its way. If you could close the door. Thank you." Driver Joe said quickly.

Sky was waiting by the door when they came out, looking concerned, "What did they say? Did they tell you? What is it? What's wrong?" she quizzed them both.

"Oh, just stabilising. Happens all the time." The Doctor lied easily.

"I don't need this." Sky complained, "I'm on a schedule. This is completely unnecessary."

"Back to your seats, thank you." The hostess said as she entered the cockpit.

The Doctor took Rose's hand and guided her back to their seats as told.

"Excuse me, Doctor, but they're micropetrol engines, aren't they?" Dee-Dee asked from her seat behind them.

"Now, don't bother the man." Hobbes said sternly.

"My father was a mechanic." She continued anyway "Micropetrol doesn't stabilise. What does stabilise mean?"

The Doctor hesitated and looked at Rose, "Well. Bit of flim-flam. Don't worry, they're sorting it out."

"So it's not the engines?" Hobbes stood up.

"It's just a little pause, that's all." He reassured him.

"How much air have we got?" Hobbes asked fearfully.

"Professor, it's fine." Rose told him.

"What did he say?" Val piped up, having heard the professor's question.

"Nothing." The Doctor said.

"Are we running out of air?" she panicked.

"I was just speculating." Hobbes defended.

Everyone erupted into panic, speaking on top of each other as the hostess tried to calm them all down.

"Everyone! Quiet!" the Doctor spoke over them, "Thank you. Now, if you'd care to listen to my good friend Dee-Dee."

"Oh. Er, it's just that, well, the air's on a circular filter, so we could stay breathing for ten years." Dee-Dee explained somewhat awkwardly.

"There you go." The Doctor told them, "And we've spoken to the Captain. I can guarantee you everything's fine."

Two loud thumps sounded from the outside of the shuttle.

"What was that?" Val asked.

"It must be the metal. We're cooling down. It's just settling." Hobbes assured them.

"Rocks. It could be rocks falling." Dee-Dee suggested.

The Doctor looked at Rose worriedly and followed her eye line as she stared curiously at one of the thin windows near the back of the cabin.

"What I want to know is how long we have to sit here." Biff said irritably.

Another _thump thump_ sounded from a different part of the hull.

"What is that?" Sky asked.

"There's someone out there." Val said.

Hobbes protested, "Now, don't be ridiculous."

"Like I said, it could be rocks." Dee-Dee said.

The hostess shook her head, "We're out in the open. Nothing could fall against the sides."

_Thump thump_

"Knock, knock." The Doctor said quietly.

"Who's there?" Jethro finished.

"Is there something out there? Well? Anyone?" Sky looked around at the group.

_Thump thump_

"What the hell is making that noise?" she demanded.

"I'm sorry, but the light out there is Xtonic." Hobbes protested again, "That means it would destroy any living thing in a split second. It is impossible for someone to be outside."

_Thump thump_

"Well, what the hell is that, then?" Sky asked.

"Doctor," Rose warned as the time lord pulled his stethoscope out of his pocket and placed it on the hull to try and hear something outside.

"Sir, you really should get back to your seat." The hostess told him.

The Doctor ignored them, "Hello?"

_Thump thump. _The noise was quicker now.

"It's moving." Jethro realised as the thumping made its way around the outside.

The emergency exit rattled, "It's trying the door." Val cried.

"There is no it. There's nothing out there. Can't be." Hobbes protested.

The thumping moved over the roof and to the entrance door causing Biff and Val to jump away.

"That's the entrance. Can it get in?" Val panicked.

"No. That door's on two hundred weight hydraulics." Dee-Dee assured her.

"Stop it. Don't encourage them." Hobbes chastised.

"What do you think it is?" the assistant asked him quietly.

"Biff, don't." Val warned her husband who had walked to the door and placed his hands on the metal.

"Mister Cane. Better not." The Doctor agreed.

"Nah, it's cast iron, that door." He said, knocking three times against it.

_Thump thump thump._

"Three times. Did you hear that? It did it three times." Val shrieked.

"It answered." Jethro said.

"It did it three times!" Val repeated.

"All right, all right, all right. Everyone calm down." The Doctor instructed calmly.

"No, but it answered." Sky insisted, "It answered. Don't tell me that thing's not alive. It answered him."

"Rose, stay there." The Doctor said as the blonde began to move towards him.

_Thump thump thump._

"I really must insist you get back to your seats." The hostess repeated.

"No, don't just stand there telling us the rules. You're the hostess. You're supposed to do something!" Sky was shouting at her in panic.

The Doctor knocked on the door four times and there was a pause before the reply came; _thump thump thump thump._

_"_What is it? What the hell's making that noise? She said she'd get me. Stop it. Make it stop. Somebody make it stop. Don't just stand there looking at me. It's not my fault. He started it with his stories." Sky started accusingly, "And he made it worse! Why didn't you leave it alone? Stop staring at me. Just tell me what the hell it is."

"It's alright, just calm down." Rose told the hysterical woman.

There was one loud _thump,_ followed by others, making their way over to where Sky was standing, "It's coming for me. Oh, it's coming for me. It's coming for me. It's coming for me. It's coming for me." Sky repeated and backed up the driver's door before screaming.

"Get out of there!" the Doctor yelled and tried to reach for her, but there was a loud boom and the entire shuttle rocked from side to side, throwing the occupants back and forth across the chairs. The lights flickered out leaving everyone bathed in darkness.

"Arms, legs, neck, head, nose. I'm fine. Everyone else? How are we? Rose?" the Doctor said and bent down beside her in the dim light.

Rose was staring past the Doctor at the screen just behind him, the image of the singer cut out and was replaced by Mickey's face; it looked like he was calling her name.

"Mickey?" Rose said hesitantly and the Doctor turned around to see what she was looking at, only to see a blank screen.

"Rose?" he wiped away the blood on her forehead with a swipe of his thumb, "Blimey how hard did you hit your head?"

Rose blinked, "What? No, I'm fine." She reached up for his hands and he pulled her up.

"How are we? Everyone all right?" He asked the rest of the passengers, who were all beginning to stand up.

"Earthquake. Must be." Hobbes insisted.

"But that's impossible. The ground is fixed. It's solid." Dee-Dee argued.

"We've got torches. Everyone take a torch. They're in the back of the seats." The hostess told them, shining her own torch around.

"Oh, Jethro. Sweetheart, come here." Val approached her son.

"Never mind me. What about her?" Jethro shone the beam of his torch onto Sky, who was sitting in the remains of the front row. The seats had been ripped up around her and she was crouched with her head in her hands, unnaturally still.

"What happened to the seats?" Val asked

"Who did that?" her husband wondered aloud.

"They've been ripped up." She confirmed.

"It's all right, it's all right, it's all right. It's over. We're still alive. Look, the wall's still intact. Do you see?" the Doctor crouched beside Sky and spoke to her gently to reassure her. He shone his torch onto the wall, which had a large dent in it, but was definitely still intact.

"We're safe." Rose assured them, and crouched down next to the Doctor and Sky.

"Driver Joe, can you hear me?" the hostess was speaking urgently into the intercom, "I'm not getting any response. The intercom must be down." She made her way over to the driver's door and pressed the button to release it.

An alarm blared loudly and a bright light flooded the entire shuttle, blinding them with its intensity, the hostess managed to reach out to close it again, blocking out the light and causing the alarm to stop.

"What happened? What was that?" Val panicked.

"Is it the driver? Have we lost the driver?" Biff asked.

"The cabin's gone." The hostess replied, disbelievingly.

"Don't be ridiculous." Hobbes snapped, "It can't be gone. How can it be gone?"

"Well, well, you saw it." Dee-Dee countered.

"There was nothing there, like it was ripped away." The hostess' voice shook as she spoke.

"What are you doing?" Biff asked, shining his torch at the Doctor who was using his sonic on a panel in the wall.

"Ah, that's better. Little bit of light. Thank you. Molto bene." The Doctor praised.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Val asked accusingly.

"The cabin's gone. You'd better leave that wall alone." Biff warned.

"The cabin can't be gone." Hobbes argued profusely.

"No, it's safe. Any rupture would automatically seal itself." The Doctor assured them. He removed the panel and studied the wiring. "But something sliced it off. You're right, the cabin's gone."

"But if it gets separated?" the hostess started, dreading the answer.

"It loses integrity. I'm sorry; they've been reduced to dust. The driver and the mechanic. But they sent a distress signal. Help is on its way. They saved our lives. We are going to get out of here, I promise. We're still alive, and they are going to find us." The Doctor swore to the other passengers, gaze focusing on Rose.

"Doctor, look at her." Rose said, still crouched beside Sky, who hadn't so much as twitched, "I think she might be in shock."

"Right, yes. Sorry. Have we got a medical kit?" the Doctor asked.

"Why won't she turn around?" Jethro asked.

Rose looked up and shook her head, "I don't think she can hear us."

"What's her name?" Hobbes asked the hostess.

"Silvestry. Mrs Sky Silvestry." She stammered.

"Sky? Can you hear me? Are you all right? Can you move, Sky? Just look at me." The Doctor instructed carefully.

"That noise from outside. It's stopped." Jethro pointed out.

"Well, thank God for that." Val said, relieved.

"But what if it's not outside anymore? What if it's inside?" Jethro asked.

"Inside? Where?" Val panicked and the others shone their torches around the room.

"It was heading for her." Jethro nodded at Sky warily.

"Sky? It's all right, Sky. I just want you to turn around, face me." The Doctor said calmly.

Sky began to lift her hands from her head and the Doctor grabbed Rose's arm and pulled her back to him. Sky turned slowly and her blue eyes met the Doctor's torch light with a wild look. She glanced around the room, eyes flitting from person to person, a predatory glint within.

The Doctor tilted his head from side to side slowly to gauge her reaction and found himself being imitated, "Sky?" he asked slowly.

_Sky? _She repeated.

"Are you all right?" Rose asked her, gulping when Sky's intense gaze flicked over to her.

_Are you all right? _

"Are you hurt?" the Doctor tried.

_Are you hurt? _

"You don't have to talk." He told her.

_You don't have to talk. _

"We're trying to help."

_We're trying to help. _

"My name's the Doctor." He told her gently.

_My name's the Doctor_.

"Okay, can you stop?" He asked warily.

_Okay, can you stop? _

"I'd like you to stop." The Doctor said.

_I'd like you to stop. _

"Why's she doing that?" Hobbes asked

_Why's she doing that? _

"She's gone mad." Biff said incredulously.

_She's gone mad. _

"Stop it." Val snapped.

_Stop it. _

"I said stop it." Val warned.

_I said stop it. _

"I don't think she can." Dee-Dee looked at her.

_I don't think she can. _Sky's mouth was drawn into an awkward sneer as she snapped her head around to look at the people who spoke.

"All right now stop it." Hobbes told her "This isn't _funny_."

_All right now stop it. This isn't funny. _

"Shush, shush, shush, all of you." The Doctor warned.

_Shush, shush, shush, all of you. _

"My name's Jethro." The boy tested.

_My name's Jethro. _

"Jethro, leave it. Just shut up." The Doctor warned.

_Jethro, leave it. Just shut up. _

The Doctor leaned in to look at Sky's eyes curiously,

"Doctor," Rose warned, "Don't."

_Doctor. Don't_

The Doctor held up a hand to silence her, "Why are you repeating?"

_Why are you repeating? _

"What is that, learning?" He questioned.

_What is that, learning? _

"Copying?" he continued.

_Copying? _

"Absorbing?"

_Absorbing? _

The Doctor narrowed his eyes, "The square root of pi is 1.772453850905516027298167483341. Wow."

Sky began repeating immediately, her voice overlapping with the Doctor's_, the square root of pi is 1.772453850905516027298167483341. Wow._

"But that's impossible." Hobbes said.

_But that's impossible. _

"She couldn't repeat all that." Dee-Dee said dubiously.

_She couldn't repeat all that. _

"Tell her to stop." Val begged

_Tell her to stop. _

"She's driving me mad!" the woman continued.

_She's driving me mad. _

"Just make her stop!" Val demanded again.

_Just make her stop! _

Everyone began to speak over each other, Sky still repeating every word without fail, and the panicked words of the other passengers filled the room. Then, suddenly the lights came back on and everyone fell silent.

"That's the backup system." The hostess explained.

Rose ignored the others and watched Sky instead, the woman was staring straight back at her, an inhuman expression written across her features. The other woman's eyes bored into her own and Rose felt as if she was staring into her mind, her soul. She gasped softly when Sky opened her mouth to speak again.

"Then I suggest we all calm down. This panic isn't helping. That poor woman is evidently in a state of **self induced hysteria. We should leave her alone**." Hobbes told them.

"**Doctor.**" Jethro said, a strange echo accompanied his voice.

"**I know**." He said.

"**Doctor, now step back. I think you should leave her**," Hobbes paused when he heard that Sky was now speaking with him, "**Alone. What's she doing**?"

**"How can she do that? She's talking with you. And with me. Oh, my God. Biff, what's she doing?" **

**"She's repeating, at exactly the same time." **Jethro said, Sky's voice echoing his own.

**"That's impossible."** Dee-Dee said.

**"There's not even a delay." **Hobbes noted.

**"Oh man, that is weird."** Jethro shook his head, slightly amused.

Rose shook herself slightly and stood up slowly, half expecting Sky to mimic her actions as well as her words, **"Look maybe we should all just shut up."** Rose suggested, still eyeing Sky as she spoke.

The Doctor nodded his agreement, **"Good idea. Now let's everyone be quiet. Have you got that?"**

**"How's she doing it?"** Val asked.

**"Mrs Cane, please be quiet."** Rose said calmly.

**"How can she do that? She's got my voice! She's got my words!" **Val shouted at the creature in the corner.

**"Come on, be quiet. Hush, now. Hush. She's doing it to me." **Biff gasped.

**"Just stop it, all of you. Stop it, please. Now then, Sky. Are you Sky? Is Sky still in there? Mrs Silvestry? You know exactly what I'm going to say. How are you doing that? Roast beef. Bananas. The Medusa Cascade. Bang! Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Donna Noble, TARDIS. Shamble bobble dibble dooble. Oh, Doctor, you're so handsome. Yes, I am, thank you. A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O. First she repeats, then she catches up. What's the next stage?"** the Doctor spoke quickly, in a rush to try and catch her out, but Sky still spoke every word, perfectly in time with him.

**"Next stage?"** Rose questioned.

**"That's not her, is it? That's not Mrs Silvestry anymore."** Jethro asked.

**"I don't think so, no. I think the more we talk, the more she learns. Now, I'm all for education, but in this case, maybe not. Let's just move back. Come on. Come with me. Everyone, get back. Rose. All of you, as far as you can." **The Doctor held his arms out and ushered everyone back. **  
"Doctor, make her stop."** Val begged.

The Doctor pulled her further back with him, **"Val, come with me. Come to the back. Stop looking at her. Come on, Jethro. You too. Everyone, come on. Fifty minutes, that's all we need. Fifty minutes till the rescue arrives." **

**"And she can't even move, yeah?"** Rose concluded, **"Look at her. She's just copying us, if we don't speak, neither can she."**

**"I can't, I can't look at her. It's those eyes."** Val gulped.

Rose's arm went immediately around the other woman's shoulder, **"Come on, it'll be alright. Help's on it's way, we just need to sit tight and wait."** She said gently, earning a tearful nod from Val and a small smile from the Doctor.

**"We must not look at goblin men."** Dee-Dee said suddenly.

**"What's that supposed to mean?"** Biff asked.

**"It's a poem. Christina Rossetti."** The Doctor explained.

**"We must not look at goblin men. We must not buy their fruits. Who knows upon what soil they fed their hungry, thirsty roots?"** Dee-Dee continued.

**"Actually, I don't think that's helping**.**"** The Doctor pointed out.

**"She's not a goblin, or a monster. She's just a very sick woman."** Hobbes chided.

**"Maybe that's why it went for her."** Jethro suggested.

**"There is no it."** Hobbes protested. Rose and the Doctor both rolled their eyes at his comment.

**"Think about it though. That knocking went all the way round the bus until it found her. And she was the most scared out of all of us. Maybe that's what it needed. That's how it got in."** Jethro said.

**"For the last time. Nothing can live on the surface of Midnight!"** the professor snapped.

**"Professor, I'm glad you've got an absolute definition of life in the universe, but perhaps the universe has got ideas of its own, hmm? Now trust me, I've got previous. I think there might well be some consciousness inside Mrs Silvestry, but maybe she's still in there. And it's our job to help her."** The Doctor addressed them all.

**"Well, you can help her. I'm not going near." **Biff said indignantly.

**"Have you heard yourself?"** Rose asked incredulously, **"What if that was your wife or son instead of her? Wouldn't you do everything you could to help?"**

**"Yeah, well it's not is it?"** Biff countered.

**"So that makes her disposable?"** Rose asked him fiercely.

**"Come on, Rose. That's enough, besides; I've got to stay back, because if she's copying us, then maybe the final stage is becoming us. I don't want her becoming me, or things could get a whole lot worse."** The Doctor told them seriously.

**"Oh, like you're so special."** Val all but snorted at him.

**"As it happens, yes, I am. So that's decided. We stay back, and we wait. When the rescue ship comes, we can get her to hospital."** The Doctor declared. There was a pause while the other passengers decided whether to listen to him.

**"We should throw her out."** The hostess hissed.

**"I beg your pardon?"** Hobbes asked dubiously.

**"Can we do that?"** Val asked.

**"No we can't."** Rose told her evenly.

**"That thing, whatever it is, killed the driver, and the mechanic, and I don't think she's finished yet."** The hostess insisted.

**"She can't even move."** The Doctor told her.

**"Look at her. Look at her eyes. She killed Joe, and she killed Claude, and we're next." **The hostess said.

**"She's still doing it. Just stop it. Stop talking. Stop it!"** Biff shouted at Sky, stepping towards her as he did.

**"Biff, don't, sweetheart."** Val begged.

**"But she won't stop. We can't throw her out, though. We can't even open the doors." **

The Doctor squared up to him and stared him in the face, **"No one is getting thrown out."**

**"Yes, we can. Because there's an air pressure seal. Like when you opened the cabin door, you weren't pulled out. You had a couple of seconds, because it takes the pressure wall about six seconds to collapse. Well, six seconds exactly. That's enough time to throw someone out."** Dee-Dee informed them.

**"Thanks, Dee-Dee. Just what we needed."** Rose said sarcastically.

**"Would it kill her outside?"** Val asked.

**"I don't know."** Dee-Dee admitted, **"But she's got a body now. It would certainly kill the physical form."**

**"No one is killing anyone."** The Doctor yelled.

**"I wouldn't risk the cabin door twice, but we've got that one. All we need to do is grab hold of her and throw her out."** The hostess proposed.

**"Now, listen, all of you. For all we know that's a brand new life form over there. And if it's come inside to discover us, than what's it found? This little bunch of humans. What do you amount to, murder? Because this is where you decide. You decide who you are. Could you actually murder her? Any of you? Really? Or are you better than that?"** The Doctor asked slowly.

**"I'd do it."** The hostess supplied and there was a chorus of agreement from Biff, Val and Dee-Dee, Sky echoing each one.

**"What?"** the Doctor asked.

**"I want her out."** Dee-Dee told him.

**"You can't say that."** The Doctor protested.

**"I'm sorry, but you said it yourself, Doctor. She is growing in strength."** Dee-Dee said.

**"That's not what he said."** Rose defended.

**"I want to go home."** Dee-Dee admitted in a child-like voice, **"I'm sorry. I want to be safe."**

**"You'll be safe any minute now."** The Doctor said, "The rescue truck is on its way."

**"But what happens then, Doctor? If it takes that thing back to the Leisure Palace, if that thing reaches civilisation, what if it spreads?"** the hostess pointed out.

**"No, because when we get back to the base, I'll be there to contain it."** The Doctor assured her.

**"You haven't done much so far."** Val said accusingly.

**"You're just standing in the back with the rest of us."** Biff agreed.

**"She's dangerous. It's my job to see that this vessel is safe, and we should get rid of her." The** hostess concluded.

**"Now, hang on. I think perhaps we're all going a little bit too far."** Hobbes said.

The Doctor clapped him on the shoulder, **"At last. Thank you."**

**"Two people are dead."** The hostess argued.

**"Don't make it a third."** The Doctor countered.

**"Jethro, what do you say?"** Rose asked.

**"I'm not killing anyone."** He responded.

**"Thank you."** The Doctor said earnestly.

**"He's just a boy."** Val protested.

**"What, so I don't get a vote?"** Jethro asked defensively.

**"There isn't a vote. It's not happening. Ever. If you try to throw her out that door, you'll have to get past me first."** The Doctor told them.

**"Okay."** The hostess said after a moment's pause.

**"Fine by me."** Biff agreed.

Rose glared at them, **"Well it's not fine by me! You can't do this. You can't just start killing people to make yourselves feel better!"**

**"Just think about it." **The Doctor cut in, **"Could you actually take hold of someone and throw them out of that door?"**

**"Calling me a coward?"** Biff asked defensively.

**"Who put you in charge, anyway?"** Val questioned.

**"I'm sorry, but you're a Doctor of what, exactly?" **Hobbes asked.

**"They weren't even booked in. The rest of you, tickets in advance. They just turned up out of the blue."** The hostess informed the others.

**"Where from?"** Val asked suspiciously.

**"We're just travelling. We're travellers, that's all."** The replied, flustered by the sudden stream of questions.

**"Like immigrants?"** Val questioned.

**"Who were you talking to? Before you got on board, you were talking to someone. Who was that?"** the hostess pressed.

Rose cut in, **"That was just Donna, our friend."**

**"And what were you saying to her?"** Biff asked.

**"He hasn't even told us his name."** Val pointed out.

**"The thing is though, Doctor, you've both been loving this."** Jethro said from next to him.

**"Oh, Jethro, not you."** The Doctor said sadly.

Jethro shook his head, **"No, but ever since all the trouble started, you've been loving it." **

**"It has to be said, you do seem to have a certain glee."** Hobbes admitted, nodding at the Doctor.

**"All right, I'm interested. Yes, I can't help it. Because whatever's inside her, it's brand new, and that's fascinating."** The Doctor said.

**"What, you wanted this to happen?"** Val accused.

**"No."** The Doctor denied.

**"And you were both talking to her, all on your own, before all the trouble. Right at the front, you were talking to that Sky woman, the three of you together. I saw you."** Biff said.

**"We all did."** Val told them.

**"And you went into the cabin."** The hostess cut in.

**"What were you saying to her?"** Biff asked.

The Doctor stepped in front of Rose and tried to deflect the conversation from her, **"I was just talking."**

**"Saying what?"** Biff asked.

**"You were nervous, when we set off, you looked nervous." **The hostess concluded.

**"Just leave him alone!" **Rose jumped in to defend him.

**"You called us humans like you're not one of us."** Jethro said.

**"He did. That's what he said."** Val agreed readily.

They continued to point out everything he'd done whilst onboard and challenged him at every turn.

**"Even if he goes, he's practically volunteered."** The hostess said bluntly.

**"Oh come on just stop it, please."** Rose argued and placed herself between the Doctor and the other passengers.

**"Do you mean we throw him out as well?"** Biff asked.

The hostess nodded, **"If we have to."** She clarified.

**"Look, just. Right, sorry, yes, hold on, just. I know you're scared, and so am I. Look at me, I am. But we have all got to calm down and cool off and think."** The Doctor held his hands up to calm them.

**"Perhaps you could tell us your name."** Hobbes suggested.

**"What does it matter?"** the Doctor countered.

**"Then tell us."** The hostess told him.

**"John Smith."** He said quickly.

**"Your real name,"** Hobbes said.

Biff nodded, **"He's lying. Look at his face."**

**"His eyes are the same as hers."** Val said accusingly.

**"Why won't you tell us?"** Jehtro asked, **"We know hers."** He pointed to Rose.

**"Unless she's in on it too."** Dee-Dee suggested.

**"You leave her out of this."** The Doctor stepped forward, the oncoming storm beginning to brew in his eyes.

**"They've been lying to us right from the start."** Val hissed.

**"What's your name? Both of you?"** the hostess questioned again.

**"No one's called John Smith. Come off it."** Biff accused.

**"Now listen to me. Listen to me right now, because you need me, all of you. If we are going to get out of this, then you need me."** The Doctor told them.

"So you keep saying. You've been repeating yourself more than her." Hobbes said.

"If anyone's in charge, it should be the Professor. He's the expert." Val concluded.

"Mum, stop. Just look." Jethro said.

"You keep out of this, Jethro." His mother warned.

"Look at her!" Jethro yelled.

"She's stopped." Dee-Dee said.

**"When did she? No, she hasn't. She's still doing it**." The Doctor spoke.

"She looks the same to me. No, she's stopped. Look, I'm talking, and she's not." Val said, relieved.

"What about me, is she? Look. Look at that. She's not doing me. She's let me go." Biff sighed in relief.

"Mrs Silvestry?" the hostess tested, "Nor me. Nothing."

**"Sky, what are you doing?"** the Doctor asked, Sky still speaking with him.

Rose looked warily at Sky and shivered slightly at the look still in her eyes, "Doctor, I don't think you should," she placed a hand on his arm but he ignored her and looked at Sky.

"She's still doing him." Dee-Dee gasped.

"Doctor, it's you. She's only copying you." Hobbes cried.

**"Why me? Why are you doing this?"** The Doctor questioned the creature.

"She won't leave him alone." Dee-Dee spoke.

"Do you see? I said so. She's with him." Val responded.

"They're together." Biff said

"What about Rose?" Jethro asked, looking at her oddly.

Rose shook her head, "It neither of us! It's her!" she denied.

"How do you explain it, Doctor, if you're so clever?" Hobbes asked.

**"I don't know. Sky, stop it. I said stop it. Just stop it."** He crouched down beside her.

"Look at the two of them." Val continued.

**"Mrs Silvestry, I'm trying to understand. You've captured my speech. What for? What do you need? You need my voice in particular. The cleverest voice in the room. Why? Because I'm the only one who can help? Oh, I'd love that to be true, but your eyes, they're saying something else. Listen to me. Whatever you want, if it's life, or form, or consciousness, or voice, you don't have to steal it. You can find it without hurting anyone. And I'll help you. That's a promise. So, what do you think?" **The Doctor asked.

"Do we have a deal?" Sky spoke, shortly followed by the Doctor.

_"Do we have a deal?"_ he echoed. Rose froze, paling slightly as she looked at the Doctor, he looked eerily still and his face was etched with fear, a haunted look in his eyes.

"Hold on, did she?" Dee-Dee asked.

"She spoke first." Jethro said.

"No," Rose said and bent down beside the Doctor.

"She can't have." Val denied.

"She did." Hobbes confirmed.

"She spoke first." Jethro said again.

Sky cocked her head, "Oh, look at that. I'm ahead of you."

"_Oh, look at that. I'm ahead of you."_ The Doctor echoed.

"Did you see? She spoke before he did. Definitely." Hobbes affirmed.

"He's copying her." Jethro said.

"No." Rose snapped her head around to look at the others, "She spoke first, that's not the same thing."

"I think it's moved." Sky said slowly.

_"I think it's moved." _

"I think it's letting me go." She continued.

_"I think it's letting me go."_

"What do you mean?" Dee-Dee questioned, "Letting you go from what?"

"But he's repeating now. He's the one doing it. It's him." Biff said.

"They're separating." Jethro agreed.

"No, that's not what's happening. It's not him, it's her!" Rose protested.

"Well then how do you explain it?" Val asked.

"I don't know! Telepathy." Rose suggested lamely.

"Telepathy?" Hobbes snorted and turned to Sky, "Mrs Silvestry, is that you?"

"Yes. Yes, it's me." She replied.

_"Yes. Yes, it's me." _

"I'm coming back." She said, "Listen. It's me."

_"I'm coming back. Listen. It's me." _

"Like it's passed into the Doctor. It's transferred. Whatever it is, it's gone inside him." Jethro suggested.

"No, that's not what happened." Dee-Dee shook her head.

"But look at her." Val argued.

"Look at me, I can move." Sky said.

_"Look at me." _

"I can feel again." She continued.

_"I can move. I can feel again."_ The Doctor repeated.

"I'm coming back to life." She told them.

_"I'm coming back to life." _

"And look at him. He can't move." Sky said, it was true, the Doctor was shaking slightly as if trying to overcome his paralysis, but he couldn't move anything except for his eyes.

"_And look at him. He can't move_."

"Help me." Sky pleaded.

_"Help me." _

"Professor?" the woman asked.

_"Professor?" _

"Get me away from him." She said.

_"Get me away from him." _

"Please." She begged.

_"Please." _

Hobbes reluctantly took her hand and helped her get up and away from the Doctor.

"Oh, thank you." She said.

_"Oh, thank you."_ Rose stayed crouched beside the Doctor, looking into his eyes with a broken look on her face.

"They've completely separated." Jethro realised.

"It's in him. Do you see? I said it was him all the time."

"She's free. She's been saved." Val insisted.

"No," Rose whispered quietly.

"Oh, it was so cold." Sky said.

_"Oh, it was so cold." _

"I couldn't breathe." She continued.

_"I couldn't breathe." _

"I'm sorry."

_"I'm sorry." _

"I must have scared you so much."

_"I must have scared you so much." _

Val walked over to her and pulled her into a hug, "No, no, it's all right. I've got you. Ooo, there you are, my love. It's gone. Everything's all right now."

"I wouldn't touch her." Dee-Dee warned.

"But it's gone. She's clean. It passed into him." Biff argued.

"That's not what happened." Dee-Dee protested.

"Thank you for your opinion, Dee, but clearly Mrs Silvestry has been released." Hobbes told her.

"No." Rose said and stood up to face the group, "She finished his sentence first, it wasn't the other way around. What if this is the next stage?"

"Just leave her alone. She's safe, isn't she? Jethro, it's let her go, hasn't it?" Val asked her son.

"I think so, yeah. Looks like it. Professor?" Jethro asked.

"I'd say, from observation, the Doctor can't move. And when she was possessed, she couldn't move, so," Hobbes said.

"Well, there we are then. Now the only problem we've got is this Doctor." Biff confirmed.

"You're not touching him." Rose said, standing straighter and staring him down with her best Torchwood glare.

"It's inside his head." Sky said.

_"It's inside his head." _

"It killed the driver."

_"It killed the driver." _

"And the mechanic."

_"And the mechanic." _

"And now it wants us."

_"And now it wants us." _

"I said so." Val told them.

"He's waited so long."

_"He's waited so long." _

"In the dark."

_"In the dark." _

"And the cold."

_"And the cold." _

"And the diamonds."

_"And the diamonds." _

"Until you came."

_"Until you came." _

"Bodies so hot."

_"Bodies so hot." _

"With blood."

_"With blood." _

"And pain."

_"And pain." _

Val gasped, "Stop. Oh, my God, make him stop. Someone make him stop."

"But she's saying it." Dee-Dee pointed out.

"And you can shut up." Val told her.

"But listen, she's not speaking like a normal person." Rose pointed out, "He's just repeating what she says."

"But that's what the thing does, it repeats." Biff countered.

"Just let her talk." The hostess said, and Rose shot her a grateful look.

"What do you know? Fat lot of good you've been." Biff yelled.

"Just let her explain."

"Look, it repeats, then it synchronises, then it goes on to the next stage and that's exactly what the Doctor said would happen." Rose told them.

"But you're on his side!" Biff exclaimed.

"Yes I am!" she snapped and gave him a cold glare.

"The voice is the thing." Jethro said.

Dee-Dee cut in, "And she's the voice. She stole it. Look at her. It's not possessing him, it's draining him."

"She's got his voice." The hostess agreed.

"But that's not true, because it can't. Because I saw it pass into him. I saw it with my own eyes." Val said.

"So did I."

"You didn't." Dee-Dee argued.

"It went from her, to him. You saw it, didn't you?" Val asked her son.

"I don't know." Jethro admitted.

"Oh, don't be stupid, Jethro. Of course you did." Val stated.

"I suppose he was right next to her." The boy conceded.

"Everyone saw it. Everyone." Biff confirmed.

"No," Rose argued, "If it's really passed over to the Doctor, then why is he only responding to her?" she pointed at Sky.

"Exactly. I know what I saw, and I saw her stealing his voice." Dee-Dee agreed.

"They're as bad as him. Someone shut them up." Val snapped, giving Rose a glare.

"That's how he does it." Sky began speaking again in an unnaturally even tone.

_"That's how he does it." _

"He makes you fight."

_"He makes you fight." _

"Creeps into your head."

_"Creeps into your head." _

"And whispers."

_"And whispers." _

"Listen."

_"Listen." _

"Just listen."

_"Just listen." _

"That's him."

_"That's him." _

"Inside."

_"Inside." _

"Throw him out." Biff said.

"Get him out of my head." Val shrieked.

"Yeah," Biff agreed, "we should throw him out."

"Don't just talk about it, just. You're useless. Do something." Val snapped at him.

"I will. You watch me. I'm going to throw him out." Biff announced.

"No!" Rose yelled.

"Yes." Sky told them.

_"Yes." _

"Throw him out."

_"Throw him out." _

Biff came up behind the Doctor and Rose came between them, "Stop it! Don't listen to her!"

"Get rid of him."

_"Get rid of him." _

"Now."

_"Now." _

Biff pushed Rose aside forcefully and she fell to the floor, he grabbed the Doctor and began to manoeuvre him over to the exit, with difficulty.

"Don't!" Dee-Dee cried and helped Rose up from the floor.

"It'll be you next." Val told her.

"I don't think we should do this." The hostess said uncertainly.

"It was your idea." Biff told her and Rose threw herself at him, "Professor, help me." He cried as Rose attempted to pull the Doctor out of his grasp.

"I can't. I'm not..." The professor protested weakly.

"What sort of a man are you? Come on." Biff ordered.

"Throw him out." Val shouted.

"Come on." Biff agreed.

"Just do it. Throw him out." Val said.

"Help. Professor, help me." Biff said again.

Rose held tightly to the Doctor and hooked her foot around one of the seats to stop them.

"Get him out." Val cried again.

"Get her off him. Not like that. Are you stupid?" Biff scoffed at him as he tried to pull Rose away.

"Cast him out."

_"Cast him out." _

"Into the sun."

_"Into the sun."_

"I want him out." Val yelled.

"And the night." Sky continued.

_"And the night." _

"Get him out." Val yelled again.

"Come on. Don't just stand there. Do something." Biff yelled at the others.

"Get him out."

"Do it." Sky continued.

_"Do it." _

"Do it now."

_"Do it now." _

"Faster."

_"Faster."_

The professor managed to pull Rose away from the Doctor and Jethro held her down, with the help of Val.

"Just do it!" Val shouted over Rose's anguished screams.

"Doctor!" she screamed for him, tears running down her face as they continued to carry him away.

"That's the way." Sky continued.

_"That's the way." _

"You can do it."

_"You can do it." _

"Molto bene." Rose's heart clenched painfully as she heard Sky use her Doctor's words.

"Let me go!" she continued to struggle against the others, "Doctor!"

"Throw him out." Val cried again.

_"Molto bene." _

"Get him out."

"Allons-y." Sky said, her face twisted into a wicked grin, using the Doctor's words.

_"Allons-y."_

"That's his voice." The hostess cried, remembering their first conversation, after he'd boarded.

"The starlight waits."

"She's taken his voice." The hostess tried again.

_"The starlight waits." _

"The emptiness."

_"The emptiness." _

"The Midnight sky."

_"The Midnight sky." _

"It's her." The hostess realised, looking at Sky. "She's taken his voice!"

She grabbed Sky and rushed her over to the entrance door, she pressed the button to release it and everyone screamed as a bright light shone through.

"One, two, three, four, five, six." The hostess counted the seconds until the pressure wall collapsed and the door slid closed.

Biff and Hobbes dropped the Doctor and Rose surged forwards to pull him into her arms, "It's gone. It's gone. It's gone, it's gone, it's gone, it's gone. It's gone. It's gone. It's gone, it's gone, it's gone. It's gone, it's gone, it's gone." The Doctor repeated over and over.

"Shhh, it's okay. Don't worry, I'm here. It's okay." Rose said softly, still with her arms wrapped tightly around him.

"I said it was her." Val said and looked at the Doctor. He opened his eyes to fix her with a tired glare, before flexing his arms and wrapping them around Rose as tightly as he could.

*** 20 Minutes Later ***

Everyone was sat quietly, the Doctor and Rose on the floor, side by side, holding hands. The others were sat in various seats, each looking guilty and avoiding eye contact with the couple on the floor.

_Repeat. Crusader Fifty rescue vehicle coming alongside in three minutes. Door seals set to automatic. Prepare for boarding. Repeat. Prepare for boarding. _A voice sounded over the intercom.

"The hostess. What was her name?" The Doctor asked finally.

Rose thought about it for a moment but then shook her head, she had never asked. She looked away from the Doctor shamefully; back before they got separated that would have been the first thing she asked, just goes to show how time could change you. Rose idly wondered if that was why the Doctor was acting so strange, because she was different. Maybe he didn't want her anymore.

There was a long pause, filled with the shaking heads and quiet mutterings of the other passengers, "I don't know." Hobbes admitted, looking decidedly ashamed with himself.

Rose and the Doctor composed themselves carefully when the departed the shuttle, both schooling their features into unreadable expressions before going to meet Donna.

Donna had heard about the incident on the shuttle and suspected her friends had been involved somehow. When she went to meet them, they both wore blank expressions and were clutching each other's hands tightly. She greeted them both with hugs, noting the lack of a ring on Rose's finger, and brought them to sit by the pool so they could explain what happened.

"What do you think it was?" Donna asked carefully.

"No idea." The Doctor answered truthfully.

"Do you think it's still out there?" she asked them. They stayed silent but exchanged worried glances between each other. "Well, you'd better tell them. This lot."

"D'you think they'll listen?" Rose asked the Doctor.

He nodded slowly, "Yeah. They can build a Leisure Palace somewhere else. Let this planet keep on turning round an Xtonic star, in silence."

"Can't imagine you without a voice." Donna joked half heartedly.

The Doctor smirked slightly, "Molto bene."

Donna smiled, "Molto bene." Donna repeated, smile falling from her face when she saw the seriousness in the Doctor's eyes and the way Rose's hand clenched tighter around his.

"No, don't do that. Don't. Don't." The time lord warned.

The Doctor and Rose couldn't seem to leave Midnight fast enough and after explaining what had happened and negotiating an evacuation from the planet, they enjoyed a few days of relaxation on the TARDIS.

Donna and the Doctor were sat by the pool, drinking cocktails and Rose was busy cooking tea in the kitchen for them. She and the Doctor had been practically glued to the other's side ever since they got back to the TARDIS and Donna was waiting for a moment like this to finally talk to the Doctor alone.

"I should probably go give her a hand." The Doctor said and started to get up from his seat on the floor.

Donna reached out and put a hand on his arm to stop him, "She'll manage."

The Doctor sighed and looked at Donna before dutifully sitting back down, "What is it?"

"Nothing," she assured him, "But, I've noticed that you still haven't asked Rose. When are you gonna pop the question?"

The Doctor averted his eyes, "In time." He replied vaguely.

"Oh come on! That's not an answer!"

He gave her a pointed look, "She hasn't been back very long. We've only just started a proper relationship."

"All that was true before, but you were still going to do it." Donna pointed out.

"It's just too soon. She lost her family, she hasn't been ageing, she almost died." He told her. "And after everything that's happened-I just don't want her to think I'm asking her out of obligation."

"And are you?" Donna asked seriously.

"What? No! No! I Wouldn't-No!" he sputtered.

"Well then go and tell her that." Donna said firmly.

"I just want to get back into the swing of things, a lot of stuff has happened for both of us since Canary Warf, and I want everything to settle down first. Then I'll think about it." The Doctor concluded.

"You love her, she loves you. What's there to think about?"

The Doctor was about to reply when Rose popped her head around the door, "Dinner's ready. I hope pasta's okay?"

"Perfect." The Doctor smiled, not really referring to the meal and Donna smirked at him with one raised eyebrow.

The Doctor gave Donna a stern look, "Not a word." He whispered before following Rose out of the room.

"Yeah? Well I'm not making any promises." She muttered under her breath. It was time to play matchmaker.

**Yay! So like I said, I didn't really enjoy writing this episode, and I'm still not happy with it, but I just wanted to get it done and maybe I'll come back and edit it later. Thanks for reading, please follow/favourite and review or drop me a PM to let me know how you liked it :)**


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